How to choose a royal baby name
Check out historical royal family trees for inspo - hello there, Henry (x8), Anne, Jane, Albert and Arthur. You’ll notice that the most popular royal ‘family names’ tend to be repeated through the generations.
Don’t presume royal equals old-fashioned - many modern royals are choosing popular names from the top 100 ONS lists just like us regular folk.
Take a look at the top 100 ONS lists - many names used by our current British royal family appear on the baby boy and baby girl lists. These include: Charles (number 91), Edward (number 29), William (number 21), George (number 3), Louis (number 50), Harry (number 7), Henry (which is Harry’s birth name and sits at number 10), Archie (number 9), Lucas (number 22), Charlotte (number 25), Mia (number 9), Isla (number 3), Beatrice (number 99), Sienna (number 16), Sophie (number 30) and Zara (number 69).
If you reckon posh and royal are fairly interchangeable, take a look at our posh baby names article for more ideas.
Choose a modern twist on a traditional royal name, such as Charlie rather than Charles or Teddy instead of Edward. Or put the longer version on your baby’s birth certificate and call them a shorter, less formal name day to day.
Look to international royal families, such as royals in Sweden, Norway, France and the Netherlands - names used by current international kings, queens, princes and princesses include Maud, Leonor, Frederik, Marcus and Alexia.
Consider names with royal meanings, such as Rory, Leroy and Nala.
What’s a good royal name?
If you’re looking for a good royal name for a baby girl, there’s one name that stands out above all others. Our dearly departed British queen, Elizabeth II, reigned for 70 years, until her death in September 2022. Want to pay tribute by naming your baby girl after her? There are lots of reasons why you should.
Elizabeth is sometimes referred to as the ultimate girl name because it’s a perennial classic. It never goes out of style or becomes too trendy and overused. It’s currently at number 60 in the ONS list. It also provides endless opportunities for creative shortenings and nicknames, such as Eliza and Lili which are both in the top 100. As Mumsnet user Ismellphantoms puts it: “Perfect. She'll have a good choice of shortened versions and using Elizabeth is fine for any age.”
If you’d like a link to Elizabeth but prefer the path less well-trodden, how about Lilibet, the queen’s own adorable childhood nickname? It was chosen by Prince Harry and Meghan for their daughter, Princess Lilibet Diana, born in 2021.
If you’re looking for a good royal name for a baby boy, you could give a nod to British kings-in-waiting, William or George. While George may be too popular for you (it’s been in the top 10 for over a decade and is currently at number 3), William is less commonly used, at number 21.
On the other hand, if you fancy something regal but fresh-sounding, Rex could hit the spot. While this short, cool name is outside the top 100, it’s gaining steadily in popularity and with a name literally meaning ‘king’, he’ll rule your heart forever.
About the author
Louise Baty writes parenting content for Mumsnet, producing product round-ups, travel guides and baby name articles. She’s also written content for Mumsnet’s sister site, Gransnet.
Originally from West Yorkshire and now based in Nottinghamshire, Louise has worked as a features writer for consumer magazines and national newspapers for 20 years. She specialises in parenting and lifestyle features and emotional true life first-person interviews and has authored four non-fiction books on parenting and grandparenting.
Mum to two tweenagers, Louise’s own baby name choosing days may be long gone. However, she admits to having spent a LONG time deciding on her DCs’ names, together with her DP.
For this reason, Louise has a particular interest in baby names. She understands how difficult it can be to narrow down a short list from your long list of baby names, either during pregnancy or during the sleep-deprived days following the birth of your baby. By compiling comprehensive and easy-to-follow baby name round-ups for Mumsnet, she hopes to provide inspiration and support to parents-to-be who are looking for the perfect name for their baby.