Why is there Victorian, Georgian, etc but not Williamiam, Jamesian, etc?

[ANiceLentilHotpot]

DD asked me this morning and I don't know the answer. Can't seem to find it by Googling either. It is just because Williamian, Anneian, etc sound silly or is there another more sensible reason?

Also will the period we're currently in eventually be called Elizabethan? And if so how would we distinguish it from the previous Elizabethan era?

"Jamesian" is the stuff labelled as Jacobean, refers to King James 1 in particular.

Just a swift answer, William & Mary is an architectural style as is Jacobian, which might cover your questions? Sorry, on phone, but will do further Googling once on laptop!

Length of reign maybe?

Really interesting question!

Apols for typos

Jacobean sounds better as Jacob is Latin for James. Queen Anne stuff just seems to be called Queen Anne.

Not around long enough to have a definable era named after them?

So Georgian covers George I,II, III, then it’s Regency.

Anne only reigned around 7ish years IIRC.

And Anneian sounds rubbish although there’s a Queen Anne style.

It's also length of reign (although I'm mashing a load of the Georges together), and the things that happened in that reign - eg Victoria's time saw saw a load of housing being built.

Annish :D

Regnal names tend to be used for long and notable eras. Before the 1950s Elizabeth 1 was of course simply Elizabeth of England, and that period is referred to across the board with the Tudor dynasty. I think that the Edwardian era is so named as it drew a complete line under Victoria's reign. Pre-Victoria but post-Georgian is defined by the regent monarch hence recency era. This particular era we're in now will probably be defined more by technology and social media than the monarch, its globally significant whereas the monarchy is losing relevance, so unlikely to be the New Elizabethan era (in my opinion)

The reign of Charles I is known as Caroline (Carolus being Latin for Charles)

So the Edwardian era was the time of Edward VII, but Edward III reigned for much longer but didn't get an era named after him? I guess his era wasn't as notable?

Is Ricardian an era?

So the Edwardian era was the time of Edward VII, but Edward III reigned for much longer but didn't get an era named after him? I guess his era wasn't as notable?

I’m very much a “history as a hobby” type and not an expert but I thought Edwardian was commonly thought to end at the outbreak of WW1.

Edward III comes under the House of Plantagenet like the Tudors

James and the 2 Charles' were Stuarts though Charles II is also the Restoration period.

Georgian covers a long time period since it runs from George I through to IV. Also, it is a significant period, as that's when the Industrial Revolution started and there were a lot of cultural shifts.

Same with Victoria, long reign and a lot of stuff happened. Massive modernisation, lots of housing being built etc.

Edwardian exists, but it's such a short period and is kind of interrupted by the war.

Anything built before that time (Jacobean etc) is very likely to have been demolished, so it's just not as common a term in daily life.

Ah, interesting. I've learnt something thanks to you all. I'll tell DD when she gets home from school (although she'll have probably completely forgotten about it and be more interested in playing on the iPad!)