Back in
September, it was announced that
Prince William and Duchess
Kate were expecting their third baby, due next spring. There was a big discussion as to what the name of the royal baby would be. If I remember right, many members guessed
Alice or
Victoria if it was a girl, and
Arthur if it was a boy. My guesses were
Alfred for a boy and
Matilda for a girl (I also have guessed
Margaret).
I created two polls that let people vote on what they believed would be the next royal baby's name. One was for a prince (boy), the other for a princess (girl). Here they are in case anyone missed them:
http://www.behindthename.com/polls/282229http://www.behindthename.com/polls/282230
For the boys' poll,
James got the most votes (17), followed by
Alfred (13 votes),
Frederick and
Richard (4 votes), and
Edmund (3 votes). For the girls' poll,
Victoria had the most votes (12), then came
Eleanor,
Alice, and
Margaret (7 votes), and
Matilda (4 votes).
It's a smorgasbord of names; some are royal, some are family names, and there's a few that were just random guesses. Here are the reasons why each of the names were put into the respective polls:
Prince/Boy:Alfred -
Alfred the Great. My pick for a prince!
John -
King John. Since
King John was a pretty crappy ruler, chances are this name might never be used, unless as a middle name. There’s also
Prince John, who is
Queen Elizabeth’s paternal uncle.
Michael - First name of Kate’s dad.
David - One of
Prince Harry’s middle names is
David, and
Edward VIII was known as
David before he took the throne.
Leopold -
Prince Leopold,
Duke of Albany was a son of
Queen Victoria; married
Helena of Waldeck and Pyrmont.
Frederick - Some royal men have been named this. There’s
Frederick the Great,
Frederick of Sweden,
Prince Frederick (a little brother of
George III), and the current heir to Denmark, to name a few.
Robert - There’ve been three Scottish kings named
Robert, and there’s also
Robert of Normandy.
James - A couple of kings were named
James, notably
James VI and I. This may be an unlikely first name for a boy since
Prince Edward has a son named
James.
Edmund - There’s a son of
Edward III named
Edmund. I’m pretty sure
Edmund has popped up in a royal name every now and then.
Victor - Masculine form of
Victoria; there’s also a grandson of
Victoria named
Albert Victor.
Harold - There’s been a couple of Kings named
Harold. Might be another unlikely first name since there’s already
Prince Harry (though his real name is
Henry).
Paul - Hmmm…it sounded royal enough to be considered (at least in my opinion). There's a king named
Paul, but he ruled Greece.
Richard -
King Richard.
Walter -
Walter of Aquitaine. It also means “ruler of the army.”
Matthew - Not sure why I have this here. It’s a pretty popular name in the U.K.. Besides, “
Prince Matthew” does have a nice ring to it, doesn’t it?
Christian - One of
Prince Andrew’s middle names; this was also the first name to the husband of
Princess Helena of the U.K., a grandson of
Queen Victoria, and a grandson of
George V.
Daniel - Biblical
King Daniel (I guess…).
Peter - A cousin of
Prince William’s. Kate’s paternal grandfather is also named
Peter.
Anthony - Based on
Antony, which
Prince Edward has for a middle name. There’s also been a
Prince Anthony in real life (nephew of
Jackie Kennedy; look him up!).
Edgar -
Edgar the Peaceful.
Princess/Girl:Matilda - Empress
Matilda. One of my picks for a princess.
Victoria -
Queen Victoria.
Sophia - A couple of princesses have been named
Sophia, one of them was a daughter to
George III.
Alice - Many princesses have been named
Alice, one of them being
Prince Philip’s mother. Also a popular guess right now.
Cecilia -
Queen Elizabeth’s maternal grandmother.
Frances - Diana’s middle name.
Louise -
Louise,
Queen of Prussia, and
Queen Louise of Sweden. Might be unlikely, since
Prince Edward already has a daughter named
Louise.
Mary -
Queen Mary…s.
Harriet - Feminine form of
Henry.
Henrietta could be considered, but it could be a bit of a stretch.
Jane - There have been queens named
Jane; one of them was married to
Henry VIII.
Eleanor -
Eleanor of Aquitaine.
Alexandra -
Queen Alexandra.
Philippa - Feminine form of
Philip; also Kate’s sister’s name.
Maude -
Queen Maud of Norway, daughter of
Edward VII, and
Maud of
Fife; also a nickname for Empress
Matilda (I prefer the
Maude spelling).
Helena - A daughter of
Queen Victoria.
Caroline -
George II’s wife.
Can also be used to honor Kate’s mother
Carole. Might not be likely since
Caroline and
Charlotte are both derived from
Charles.
Alberta - Feminine form of
Albert. There’s also been a princess named
Alberta.
Margaret -
Queen Elizabeth’s sister. Another one of my picks for a princess.
Joan -
Joan of England and
Joan of Wales.
Emily -
Emily is a pretty popular name in the U.K.; I wonder why no royal has considered this name before.
Emily is also derived from
Amelia, and there’ve been two British princesses named
Amelia.
Kate also has someone in her family tree named
Emily.
If you want to leave your opinions (or other guesses), you're more than welcome to.
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