Prince Arthur? That name has a suitably regal ring to it, doesn't it?
Royal watchers tore up their list of girls' names Monday morning after Duchess Kate gave birth to a boy Monday. But with the new prince's name still a mystery, that allows time for a bit more speculation.
Judging from their recent choices — Prince George Alexander Louis, 4, and Princess Charlotte Elizabeth Diana, 2 — plus royal traditions, it makes sense that the top names for a prince include Arthur, James, Frederick, Thomas or Alfred.
As for the timing of the name announcement, Will and Kate took two days to announce both George and Charlotte's name, so the waiting game is on.
"By nature, William and Kate are each very traditionalist and put together they're an incredibly traditionalist couple: If either was removed from the royal sphere, you would still see traditional names from this duo," says Victoria Arbiter, the CNN royal commentator who spent some of her early years at Kensington Palace as the daughter of a royal press spokesman.
Still, it's a good thing royal babies typically carry multiple names, typically three for this generation; otherwise, the dilemma of what to name the new prince or princess would be a royal hassle of balancing tradition, family obligations and personal taste.
"The bookies are clearly favoring a name from the 18th and 19th centuries, which follows the naming of the couple's first two children," says Shawn Schulze, a spokesman for Names.org, an online names site. "Our predictions for the royal baby name are Caroline or Amelia for a girl and Nathaniel or Thomas for a boy, Thomas being the only name of our four predictions that was in (our list) of the 100 most popular names."
Meanwhile, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge might be taking advice from granny Queen Elizabeth II and perusing the royal family tree, which is ancient and laden with suitable royal names. "It's a staggering number of names to choose from — Queen Victoria had nine children! — and some have stronger connotations than others," Arbiter says.
She thinks Will and Kate might choose this a name to honor Will's grandfather, Prince Philip, 96. "Will and Kate have been keen to pay tribute to both sides of the family," she explains, adding that the couple could have more leeway with the name for their third child, who will be fifth -in -line to the throne and thus unlikely to become the sovereign.
A few that are unlikely to be chosen: While Michael, is the name of Kate's father, it's also the name of one of the queen's cousins. James was the name of two Stuart kings (the latter of which was run out the country) as well as Kate's brother, James Middleton, and one of Will's cousins, James Viscount Severn, the son of Prince Edward.
Speaking of Edward, while it's a sterling royal name used by eight kings, the last one abdicated and later seemed too friendly with Nazis, possibly staining its suitability.
The name Arthur resonates more positively, as both the name of the semi-mythical King Arthur of ancient Britain and also as another son of Queen Victoria. "Arthur is a bit like George because aside from the royal connotations, it's had a significant cool factor jump and is trendy in the U.K. now," Arbiter says.
Alfred also was the name of an important king (King Alfred the Great of mid-9th century) and another son of Victoria. And the name Frederick goes back to a former Prince of Wales who was the son of George II and father of George III, from whom the reigning Windsors descend. "Prince Freddie would be quite cute," Arbiter says.
Christian Turner, global director of naming at the brand-strategy firm Siegel+Gale, says that in naming their children, Will and Kate have skillfully navigated the tricky shoals of meeting history's expectations while sending branding signals to the public that "we're like you, we're a family."
He says George and Charlotte are examples of historical names that also have become popular in recent decades with everyone else. "The royals are trying to connect with the people; they're putting in the hours trying to make sure they're royal in bearing and stature but also familiar and accessible to everyone," Turner says.
He says the list of boys' names that are familiar on the royal register and on modern playgrounds is a bit thin because so many would be duplicates. Peter is the name of a cousin, Alexander is one of George's names, Charles is out because Charlotte was in part a tribute to him.
"So we’re looking at the 'other' traditional British names, like Thomas or Leopold (also from the Victorian era)," Turner says.
Thomas is a perfect "English heritage name," he says, carrying the gravitas of novelist Thomas Hardy or Catholic martyr Sir Thomas More. It's also friendly and short, as in Prince Tom or Prince Tommy.
"But William and Kate don’t strike me as the sort who’d be prepared to go for a Leopold. A Frederick, yes. But not a Leopold."
