The first child of Harry and Meghan – What will the name be?

On 15 October 2018 it was announced

Their Royal Highnesses The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are very pleased to announce that The Duchess of Sussex is expecting a baby in the Spring of 2019.

Their Royal Highnesses have appreciated all of the support they have received from people around the world since their wedding in May and are delighted to be able to share this happy news with the public.

Spring as we now know likely means April 2019. Meghan, The Duchess of Sussex, herself seems to have said that to a few people during one of her engagements in the past months. They have planned a trip to Morocco from 23 to 25 February 2019. Especially when you’re a royal I guess that it is somewhat easier to get permission to fly and I am not certain they will use a regular airline. Most airlines require a letter from a midwife or GP after 28 weeks pregnancy. As the British NHS (National Health Service) website says most airlines will not let you fly after week 37 of pregnancy, or week 32 if you’re pregnant with twins or more babies. As I don’t think the royals will take any risks, I’d say she will not yet be eight months pregnant at the end of February. Usually pregnant royal ladies start their maternity leave around that time too. But that is of course just a guess. All we can do is wait and see.

Speculations about the name of the child are already going on for months. There hasn’t been any announcement about a title upgrade yet either. It is very likely that the child will receive traditional names that already run in the family. The closer to the throne, the less likely it is that royals come up with an unusual name. Although you never know of course. It would at least be nice if they would honour some close relatives.

During their Australia visit in October 2018 the couple said: “We’ve been given a long list of names from everyone. We’re going to sit down and have a look at them. We haven’t thought of one as it’s still quite early.” On betting sites like Ladbrokes you can already bet on the names and gender for months. The most popular names at Ladbrokes are Victoria, Diana, Alice, Elizabeth and Mary for girls. For boys the most popular names are Albert, Phillip, Arthur, James and Alexander. The list also containes some less obvious choices like Barack, Winston, Beto, Bradley, Gareth, Boris, Donald or even Brexit. Let’s say the British just love betting … I have already joked that they could call a girl Dido, a combination of both grandmothers Diana and Doria.

Which names were thus far given in the British royal family?

A royalty acquaintance of mine, who like me loves lists, recently sent me his list of first names given in European royal families since 1871. Let’s show you the British, the year of birth is between bricks.

  • Alastair (1914)
  • Albert (1895)
  • Alexander (1871)
  • Alexandra (1878, 1936)
  • Alfred (1874)
  • Alice (1883)
  • Andrew (1960)
  • Anne (1950)
  • Arthur (1883)
  • Beatrice (1884, 1988)
  • Charles (1948)
  • Charles Edward (1884)
  • Charlotte (2015)
  • Edward (1894, 1935, 1964), Edward born 1894 was called David by family and friends, he took the regnal name of Edward in 1936.
  • Elizabeth (1926)
  • Eugenie (1990)
  • George (1902, 2013), there was also Albert who took the regnal name of George in 1936.
  • Henry (1900, 1984), this is Prince Harry’s official name.
  • John (1905)
  • Louis (2018)
  • Margaret (1882, 1930)
  • Mary (1875, 1897)
  • Michael (1942)
  • Patricia (1886)
  • Richard (1944)
  • Victoria Melita (1876)
  • William (1941, 1982)

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