What’s in a name?

Isaac Asimov’s short story title is a perfect fit for our post.

But let’s start by congratulating the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge on the birth of their son! Since we still have a little bit of time to wait until we find out his name, we thought we could have a look at the most popular names of kings in the history of the British monarchy (we have also included those pre-1603).

When it came to the order in which to present them, we had several choices: alphabetically, chronologically or by the number of kings bearing them. The last criterion would have been the natural choice, but it’s not as easy as it seems, as numbers can differ whether you are looking at Scotland, Wales, England or the whole of the Great Britain. Chronologically posed the same issue, so alphabetically it was. Please see the presentation below for more information on each name (usage, history and meaning, popularity and other famous people bearing them).

It seems that the most popular name (not among kings but in present day throughout the world) is William, closely followed by James and by far the least popular one is Richard. If we were to believe the rumours, it seems that James may be the first choice for the name of the new born heir.

But whatever name the proud parents choose, we can only wish all of them lots of happiness and good health!