Bella is the Italian word for "beautiful" and at the same time the short form of Isabella and Annabella. The Twilight novels and films, whose heroine is Bella Swan, turned it from a nickname into a popular name in its own right. In the United States Bella rose from number 749 in 2000 into the top 100 in 2009, peaked at number 48 in 2010 and has eased back to number 136 in 2025.