Lizbeth

The name Lizbeth has only been on the American female naming charts since 1988. The 1980s marked the decade when American parents began to relax in their naming choices, often opting for simple short forms of names. Perhaps Elizabeth was too long and fancy by some standards. Lizbeth has only seen modest success on the charts. The name has gone from non-usage to low-moderation in the 25 or so years she’s been in use. There was one year when Lizbeth saw a considerable jump on the charts – almost 250 positions in 2002. We figured there must be some pop-culture influences at work here so we started digging. Two things happened the previous year (2001): the release of a popular video game called “Clive Barker’s Undying” in which one of the five Covenant children is named Lizbeth. Also in 2001, popular romance writer Ruth Langan published “Loving Lizbeth”. Perhaps these events separately or together gave Lizbeth a little push up the charts. In any case, it does not appear that Lisbeth Salander, Stieg Larsson’s famous fictional heroine, impacted the name’s usage. Elizabeth is one of those names which has produced a plethora of choices, so it seems more industrious just to give your daughter the name Elizabeth, call her Lizbeth, and then let her choose later in life what she prefers. By just using Lizbeth as a given name, you are really narrowing the field.