The royal baby has been named: George Alexander Louis. If all goes well for the young tyke, he will someday become King George VII. His parents went with a very traditional name for an English monarch. I was wondering if we would have something more modern. King Dylan. King Aidan. King Todd.
After the jump, an explanation for the lad’s names. (I don’t think royals have a last name.)
From BBC News – Royal baby: Why George Alexander Louis?:
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s first baby has been named George Alexander Louis. But what’s in the name?
It is a partial victory for the old maxim, “the bookmakers are never wrong”. George was the rock-solid favourite for boys’ names for a while, backed all the way down to 2/1. Alexander and Louis were both not far behind.
A cynic might point out that before we knew it was a boy, Alexandra – the Queen’s first middle name – had been the favourite.
Of the three names, it is the significance of the third that is most obvious. Louis immediately makes one think of Louis Mountbatten, uncle of Prince Philip and last viceroy of India, who was killed by the IRA in a bomb attack on his yacht.
His father Prince Louis of Battenberg was Prince William’s great-great-grandfather. Louis is also one of William’s middle names. And, of course, the name of 17 kings of France (or 18 or 19, depending how you count).
If Louis honours one side of the Royal Family, George clearly resonates with the other.
Despite St George being the patron saint of England, it took the arrival of a German king, George I, to cement the name’s place in England. Long a popular name in Germany, it has Greek roots.
There have since been five other Georges to sit on the throne. George III, king during the loss of the American colonies, is perhaps now best known for his mental illness thanks to Alan Bennett’s play and the subsequent film adaptation.
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