How to pick the royal baby's name

The poll is about to close and so far it seems that England's future Queen Consort's pick of a boy's name s obvious while we're still guessing as to what she'll call a girl.

Votes show George as favourite for a boy - it's been at or near the top of the tree since the off and the bookies also have it as a hot tip for a Prince of Cambridge.  But the poll has 'something else' as the favourite for a girl.  Elizabeth is next and Diana at the bottom of the votes.

So I had a look at what inspired previous Queen Consorts and heirs when it came to naming their firstborn.  After all, the firstborn is expected to succeed so it gives an idea of what's important when it comes to naming a future monarch.  I focused mostly on the names chosen for boys as they were the ones all but guaranteed to get the throne - girls were leapfrogged until now.  So here's my version of the guidelines that Kate might have been given when picking the word on everyone's lips...the royal baby's name.

BOYS

There's a clear cut favourite here because the majorty of English queen consorts or wives of men who expected to become king kept it in the family when naming the boy they thought would be king.  Most of them named a first born son after their husband's father.  So that' Charles on the list. 

If Kate follows the lead of most other English Queen Consorts then she'll name her first born after her father in law.  A second Prince Charles or possibly even a Princess Charlotte or Caroline?

(photo Dan Marsh)

Next most popular source of inspiration for naming a royal baby is calling a little boy after his own dad.  Admittedly, there's some overlap here as we had a long run of Henrys and Edwards at different points so a name could honour both dad and granddad but there are plenty who chose only dad's name as well - let's add William to the list.

 

William, Duke of Cambridge - many previous heirs have named their first born after themselves - could William of Wilhelmina of Cambridge be on the way?

(photo Robert Payne)

And third most popular set of names to fall back on is again linked to baby's dad.  There's a sizeable chunk of royal babies named after one of their father's grandfathers.  And that means Philip or John could get a look in.

One other motivation has inspired monarchs and heirs and that's history.  Yes, nearly all royal babies close to the throne get an historical name.  It's rare that a random gets a look in.  But I'm talking proper history.  First on the list is Elizabeth of York who as Queen Consort of Henry VII was in a tricky position.  They were uniting the Houses of York and Lancaster - Yorks had lots of Edwards and Lancaster had lots of Henrys.  So another name was politic.  And off hubby went to have a big family tree drawn up that traced his ancestors back to King Arthur.  And that's what they called their heir.  Of course, he died before he could become king but we're looking here at inspirations.

Arthur, Prince of Wales and first born son of Henry VII and his Queen Consort, Elizabeth of York

And it might be appropriate to look to history because only two heirs to the throne have gone totally off message in that there's no direct link to a father, grandfather or uncle in their choice of name.  And it's the two most recent couples charged with naming a future monarch.  The Queen and Prince Philip surprised many with their choice of Charles but he was born in November 1948 just a few weeks before the 300th anniversary of the execution of King Charles I - there was no official reason given for calling the future king Charles but could history have provided the inspiration?  Similarly, William wasn't top of the list for the name of Charles' own son but he and Diana's firstborn will most likely be king in 2066, the 1000th anniversary of the Norman Conquest.  Again, did history inform their decision?  If so, where could we look for historical inspiration for the name of William and Kate's baby?

Kate Middleton could well be Queen Consort of England on the 1000th anniversary of William the Conqueror's famous victory over Harold II at Hastings

 



A couple of names unlikely to make the list.  It's rare for a Queen Consort to name her first born after her own father so Michael will have to hope for a middle name nod or a second son.  And Queen Consorts rarely go back further than two or three generations when naming boys so Edward (baby Cambridge's great, great, great, great grandfather) and Albert (add another great) will most likely miss out.

Albert, Prince Consort to Queen Victoria from 1840 to his death in 1861.  The vogue for old fashioned names has pushed Albert into the Top 100 in England again - but do historical traditions make it an unlikely choice for the Cambridge baby?



GIRLS

Girls weren't expected to be queen so first I'm going to apply the same rules to choosing a girl's name as we did for boys because we're talking about naming an heir here.  Then I'll look at how first born daughters got their name.

So boys were likely to be named after their father's father which means the naming procedure for a female heir points to baby's father's mother...and that's Diana on the list.  Then it's naming after the baby's parent which in a girl's case means Catherine.  And then we have dad's grandmothers - Elizabeth and Frances.

Diana, Princess of Walesa photographed in 1995

But how did Queen Consorts usually name their first born daughters?  Not too much changes even if we look at their inspiration for naming girls.  It was usually their husband's mother who got first naming rights so again we're back to Diana here.  Then it was their own name that proved most popular - another vote for Catherine.  And third most popular inspiration was using the name of one of their husband's sisters.  Of course William only has a brother but does that mean we should think about Henrietta for a girl?

Prince Harry on his hugely successful tour of the US in the first half of 2013.  Previous Queen Consorts have named first borns after their husband's brothers and sisters - could the close relationship  between William and Harry lead to a baby Henry or Henrietta?

(photo Glyn Lowe)

Another popular source of inspiration was the name of the current monarch so we're back to Elizabeth.  And while history didn't get much of a look in, the queen's own mother and grandmothers did.  So let's add Carole, Dorothy and Valerie to the list.  I know, Queen Valerie isn't going to happen but it's got more of a chance according to the historical precedents than royal names like Victoria and Anne.