Royal Names

Generally, the royal family have followed a stringent (строгий, обязательный, точный) pattern when it comes to names. We've had several Charles', a couple of Elizabeth's, and more than a few George's over the last few centuries, not to mention Henry's, Beatrice's, Edward's and of course, Charlotte's, which is, coincidentally, the feminine form of Charles. There's a reason these names have been used by royals over the centuries; they inspire feelings of power and awe.

There’s no such thing as a random or impulsive choice of royal baby’s name. There had always been a tradition of naming Kings, in particular, after their fathers, so that’s why there’s a spate of Edwards and Henrys, and even Arthur was a quite popular name, because of legends of King Arthur. And for Princesses the most unusual name was Victoria. The Queen Victoria as we all know her now was originally given a name of Alexandrina, and Victoria, actually, was her second name, but she didn’t like her first name and when she grew older, she made herself a Victoria, and that’s how that name became one of the royal names.

Sure, there were a Zara and an Isla thrown in list of baby’s names, but generally, royal baby names tend to be pretty repetitive really, with first and middle names passing down the lineage(происхождение) throughout history.

The most interesting story concerning naming a royal child involves Anne Boleyn, the 2nd wife of Henry the VIII. Nobody wanted her to become a Queen she was seen as an usurper(узурпатор власти), so when she gave birth to a girl, she thought of ways in which she could have enhanced the legitimacy of the baby, so she proposed stealing a name Mary, and Mary was the first daughter of Henry the VIII from Catherine of Aragon. Anne thought that stealing the name would make people think that her daughter is more of a valid princess, but in the end, there was so much controversy over that and she was forced to concede(уступать) and call her child Elizabeth, which also became a really popular royal name.

The other example of naming royal children is Prince William and his wife Kate, who called their first son George Alexander Louis and their daughter – Charlotte Elizabeth Diana.

Well, Etiquette expert William Hanson wrote about these Royal names: Charlotte is the feminine version of Charles so it would certainly honor Prince William's father, and also the middle name of Kate's sister Pippa is Charlotte, with whom she is very close. The name Charlotte also links to King George III's wife Queen Charlotte, who had 15 children and was known for her domestic virtues. And Diana, of course, id referred to Princess Diana.