His Grandfather may have nicknamed him Georgie, it was revealed this week, but for the nation, the third in line to the throne will be known by the name Prince George of Cambridge. Choosing a name is tougher than many think and there are many factors to consider, as we found when researching names for our unborn child.
For Will and Kate, George was the bookies favourite and the most obvious choice. It is a name steeped in history and tradition with six previous kings going by the name George. It certainly came as no surprise to me. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge had to go with something conventional. They were never going to go for a quirky, off the wall name. That right is reserved for celebrities not royals.
The revelation of the name George Alexander Louis after two days of fevered speculation certainly didn’t get the same reaction on Twitter as Kanye West and Kim Kardashian got for calling their daughter North West or Beyonce and Jay-Z deciding to name their daughter Blue, while the Beckhams’ have long entertained us with their assortment of names: Brooklyn, Romeo, Cruz and Harper Seven. No. A future king of England is never likely to be called Phoenix or Buddy or Forest and I don’t think we will ever see King Kevin or King Wayne.
Choosing a name is an important decision for any parent, let alone the future King and Queen naming the future King of England. They can’t just go with on a whim. This name could define an era like the Edwardian, Victorian, Elizabethan and the last Georgian era of George’s great, great grandfather.
But, unlike the average person, they KNOW what their son will do when he is older. His future is already predetermined. Sure, he is likely to have a career, like his father, but one day he will be the King of England. His future is written. The mere commoner, on the other hand, has to contemplate what name will take their child through life without having a clue what they will become.
For us, after deciding not to go with a ‘family name’ as many people do, my husband and I started from scratch and spent weeks looking through baby books trying to settle upon the right name for our unborn child. We wanted something different but not TOO different, we didn’t want them to face ridicule at school or have a name people may prejudge on work applications. We also didn’t want them to be one of many Harry’s or Sophie’s in one class. Then there were names we liked but were put off by their meaning (George or Giorgio is Greek for farmer).
Although we didn’t find out the gender while I was pregnant, we were absolutely convinced we were having a boy so although we prepared two sets of names we presumed we would not need the girl’s name. How wrong we were!
It is an important decision to get it right and I can understand why some babies go for weeks without a name. Names can polarise opinion and people can be very forthcoming with their thoughts about certain names. This in mind we chose a name beforehand, stuck to it and kept our choices to ourselves until she was born.
For us, like many couples, there weren’t many names we actually AGREED on. Once we had ruled out names we didn’t like, overly old-fashioned ones, very popular names, names which had strange meanings and my more ‘unique’ ideas had been dismissed (what’s wrong with Aphrodite?), we weren’t left with many. Our short list was very short. Despite studying a book of 10,000 names, we could barely come up with five for each gender. Upon closer inspection 10,000 was pushing it. Once all the popular names in every culture had been covered the book had resorted to claiming ‘names’ such as Dove, Honesty and Pansy and Kent!
Once we had agreed on first names for our unborn boy or girl the next headache was a middle name. You have to choose one you like AND goes with the first name. It can though, perhaps let you get a bit more creative – if you weren’t quite brave enough to go for it as a first name. It must be even harder, as Will and Kate experienced, coming up with two middle names (although it is one way of settling an argument). The whole process can be timely (but fun at the same time) in which it is important to get a feel for a name and imagine calling your son or daughter it. But in the end your child will grow into their name and the other choices long forgotten. Even though a name may mean ‘laughter’ or ‘magnificent one’, your child will be who they are, with their own unique personality, no matter what name they have. The same goes for Prince George or Georgie despite his title as ‘future king’.
So one day we could have another Georgian era (possibly one when I am no longer around). But then, Royals often do change their names. The last King George, the Queen’s father, was actually called Albert, or Bertie, as immortalised in the Oscar winning film The King’s Speech. While Prince Charles has hinted in the past that he might go by the name George. An idea he perhaps rethink now Georgie has beaten him to it.