Royal Names

[paulchen]

Triggered off really by the arrival of James, Viscount Severn just before Christmas, I have done a survey [not too serious] of the first names of current members of the British Royal Family [descendents of HM King George V].

If we take the decision that most members of the British Royal Family have four first names I have come up with the "average" names of both male and female members based on two criteria. Either the popularity of the name overall or the popularity of the name in its position - first name, second name, etc.

Men's names seem very traditional. There are three Edwards to start with [HRH the Earl of Wessex, HRH the Duke of Kent and his grandson Baron Downpatrick].

According to overall popularity, the average name for a male member of the British Royal Family would be:

George Edward Charles Philip

According to the popularity of each name in its position it would be slightly different:

Edward Charles Philip George

For the female members it is slightly different as there is a bigger diversity of names. Only one first name is shared, namely Marina [Marina Ogilvy and Marina-Charlotte, daughter of the Earl of St. Andrews].

For overall popularity it would be:

Elizabeth Alexandra Marina Mary

And for popularity according to each position of the name it would be either:

Marina Elizabeth Alexandra Louise or
Marina Victoria Elizabeth Louise

The reason for the two possibilties there is that whilst Elizabeth is the top choice for second name [with four examples] it has five examples as third name.

Some patterns emerge that are also interesting to look at. For instance, the popularity of the name Louis [and also Louise] stemming from Lord Mountbatten and the popularity of Marina and Alexandra within the Kent family.

Has anyone done anything similar with other Royal Families?

[Cinderella]

I think this is very interesting. I've always been intrigued by names.

To amuse myself a few years ago I came up with some lists of Danish and Spanish royal names, but they're incomplete and not ranked by popularity.

[paulchen]

That looks like a start, Cinderella...

With an XL-spreadsheet it was quite easy to do, even with all names, not just first names.

I only looked at the living descendents of HM King George V and no spouses. This brought up "dynastic" favourites, such as Elizabeth, Alexandra, Mary, George, Philip and Charles. If I had looked any further back, I am sure I would have just come up with Victoria and Albert all the time!

[Cinderella]

Didn't Queen Victoria want all her male descendants to have the name Albert? She probably wouldn't be pleased to see that Albert isn't among the most popular royal names today!

[paulchen]

Too true! Although, having said that, what is the baby son of Lord and Lady Nicholas Windsor called...? She would have been amused

[paulchen]

I have just done the same with the Dutch Royal Family. As I am only dealing here with living members this is restricted to the families of Queen Beatrix and Princess Margriet. Therefore, the list of individuals is shorter than with the British Royal Family, but within that the range of names is spread out more as the Dutch Royal Family seems to have more imagination.

Of course, some "traditional" names crop up but the choice of an average name has been more difficult.

For the men there is really only one combination, however blindingly obvious it may be, and that is:

Bernhard Claus

For the ladies, there are two possibilities. Taking the popularity of each name in its position within the full name [although, with a bit of juggling about], the average would be:

Emma Margriet Juliana Laurentien

Overall popularity would give:

Beatrix Juliana Margriet

The interesting thing about the Dutch Royal Family, apart from the obvious popularity of Bernhard, Claus, Beatrix, Juliana, Emma and Margriet, is the fact that many are known by their second name rather than their first name. I have heard Prince Willem-Alexander referred to as Alexander, his eldest daughter Princess Catharina-Amalia is called Amalia, and Countess Luana's first name is Emma, for example.

[paulchen]

I have now done the same with the Danish Royal Family, which I have restricted to the Royal descendents of HM King Christian X. I have not included the children of HRH Princess Benedikte nor those of HM Queen Anne-Marie of Greece. I have, though, included all three children of HRH Prince Knud [brother of HM King Frederik IX]. [More of them later...]

Of the men, there are obviously two front runners in both popularity according to position and popularity overall.

Popularity according to position gives:

Christian Frederik Henrik Knud

Popularity overall gives a slightly different variation:

Christian Frederick Valdemar Knud

The ladies, as in other families, are more problematic as they have a larger variety of names, especially first names.

Popularity overall gives:

Ingrid Margrethe Alexandrine Astrid

Obviously, Christian and Frederik are highly popular. Henrik [including Henri] pops up, too. With the ladies, I suppose that Ingrid holds the same position as Elizabeth in the British Royal Family [the name of a popular Queen Mother] and Margrethe is like Mary, a traditional Danish Royal name.

The children of HRH Prince Knud deserve special mention. Elisabeth, Ingolf and Christian each have 10 first names. That makes 30 names in total! [However, there are duplicates in the two brothers' names. Thank Goodness!]

[Cinderella]

Thank you for continuing to share this!!

[dunkeld]

here's a fair number of UK royal names that haven't been seen in a while.....all sons or daughters of early kings.....Cicely, Constance, Adela (daughters of the Conqueror) Edmund, Thomas (sons of Edward I), Lionel (Edward III) Humphrey, Blanche, Philippa (Henry IV)......even a Bridget (Edward IV)

[queenk]

Isn't it weird how the English and French royal names can have names that are spelled so similar but pronounced differently like Louis or Marie?

[missymaryann1]

How about Sarah Jane Matthews, was she not of the royal family somewhere at some point, she was born in Wales December 2, 1884.... what about her and where she ranked in the royal family??? if anyone should know please tell me???