The unique meaning behind every single Royal Family member's name
From Queen Elizabeth to Prince Louis.
When it comes to naming their children, the royals have a tendency to reuse family favourites: five of of the female royals share Queen Elizabeth's name and three male royals have Prince Philip's name. Kate Middleton and Prince William surely know the stress of picking the right name — it took them five days to finally make a final decision about Louis'. One thing's for sure, though, they're all very special. Click through to see which royals share monikers, and how far back their names date. (Fun fact: The slides are in order of the line of succession, in case you were ever curious about where everyone falls.)
Queen Elizabeth II
Full Name: Elizabeth Alexandra Mary
Title: Queen Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace of God Queen of this Realm and of Her other Realms and Territories, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith
Birthday: April 21, 1926
Parents: King George VI and the Queen Mother (Elizabeth)
Meaning of the Name
Elizabeth: When King George VI and his wife welcomed their first daughter, they decided to give her the name of her mother: Elizabeth. As the eldest child, Princess Elizabeth became the Queen after her father's passing. When she ascended the throne, her mother — who was also Queen Elizabeth — was given the new title of Queen Mother to avoid any confusion.
Alexandra: Queen Elizabeth's grandfather, Edward VII married Princess Alexandra of Denmark in 1861, and the two had six children. Her second name was likely given to her as a tribute to her grandmother who died suddenly from a heart attack just one year before Elizabeth was born.
Mary: The Queen's third name was a nod to her father's mother, Mary of Teck.
Prince Charles
Full Name: Charles Philip Arthur George
Title: His Royal Highness Charles, Prince of Wales
Birthday: November 14, 1948
Parents: Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip
Meaning of the Name
Charles: The name Charles ironically means "free man," something many might say the Prince of Wales isn't since he's second in line to the throne, and therefore has to follow many strict rules.
Philip: Charles' second middle name was given to him as a nod to his father, Prince Philip. Since Charles received the name, it has been continually given to royal males in line for the throne.
Arthur: The name of the mediaeval mythical King Arthur was also a name of King George VI — Prince Charles' grandfather. Now it's part of Charles' son's and grandson's names too.
George: The moniker is an ode to the Queen's father, King George VI, who passed away when Charles was just four, leaving the throne to his daughter.
Prince William
Full Name: William Arthur Philip Louis
Title: His Royal Highness Prince William, Duke of Cambridge
Birthday: June 21, 1982
Parents: Prince Charles and Princess Diana
Meaning of the Name
William: Princess Diana threw a curveball when she decided on the name William, a moniker that's been used less frequently by royals. She was reportedly told that whatever she picked had to sound good with "King" in front of it since Wills is third in the line of succession. However, he can choose to go by a different name when he becomes the monarch if he wants.
Arthur: This was a highly speculated name for William's third son, Prince Louis, and it was what Prince Charles wanted his first son to be named. Though Princess Diana said "no" to the first name, she compromised and made Arthur his second name instead.
Philip: When William was born, it was the second time the name Philip was given to a royal family member to honour the Queen's husband, Prince Philip.
Louis: The name meaning "renowned warrior," went on to become Prince William's third son's name. It's thought that the name was passed from Prince Philip's favourite uncle, Lord Louis Mountbatten.
Prince George
Full name: George Alexander Louis
Title: His Royal Highness Prince George of Cambridge
Birthday: July 22, 2013
Parents: Prince William and Kate Middleton
Meaning of the Name
George: The future King's name actually comes from that of a previous one: Queen Elizabeth's father, King George VI.
Alexander: George's second name pays homage to the Queen, whose middle name is Alexandra. Kate reportedly loved the name Alexandra at the time, so if George was a girl, it's likely we'd know a Princess Alexandra.
Louis: Prince William passed along his fourth name to Prince George. Again, the moniker is likely a tribute to George's great grandfather's favorite uncle.
Princess Charlotte
Full Name: Charlotte Elizabeth Diana
Title: Her Royal Highness Princess Charlotte of Cambridge
Birthday: May 2, 2015
Parents: Prince William and Kate Middleton
Meaning of the Name
Charlotte: The name is the female version of Charles, who is Prince William's father, and, coincidentally, the middle name of Kate Middleton's sister, Pippa Middleton.
Elizabeth: Charlotte's second moniker is a nod to not only the Queen, but also the Queen Mother.
Diana: Prince William wanted some way to pay tribute to his late mother Princess Diana, who tragically passed away in a car crash in Paris — luckily, he had a daughter to pass the name on to.
Prince Louis
Full Name: Louis Arthur Charles
Title: His Royal Highness Prince Louis of Cambridge
Birthday: April 23, 2018
Parents: Prince William and Kate Middleton
Meaning of the Name
Louis: The name holds a special meaning to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's family — all three males share it. It is likely that the moniker comes from Prince Philip's favourite uncle, Lord Louis of Mountbatten.
Arthur: The new royal baby shares his second name with both his father, Prince William and his grandfather, Prince Charles. The name could be a nod to the mythical King Arthur who was a well-known monarch in mediaeval times.
Charles: Prince Louis actually shares two names with his grandfather — Arthur and Charles.
Prince Harry
Full Name: Henry Charles Albert David
Title: His Royal High Prince Henry of Wales
Birthday: September 15, 1984
Parents: Prince Charles and Princess Diana
Meaning of the Name
Henry: He's more commonly known as Prince Harry now, but that's just a nickname. Princess Diana and Prince Charles gave him the name Henry when he was born. Henry has German origins and means "estate ruler." (Harry means the same thing).
Charles: The name Charles was passed down to Prince Harry from his father, and he now shares the moniker with his nephew, Prince Louis.
Albert: This was what Prince Charles had envisioned calling his second son, but it was not what Princess Diana wanted, according to an interview published in the 1992 book, Diana: Her Story. Albert was the name given to Queen Elizabeth's father, King George VI, at birth. (He chose George when he became monarch.)
David: The name David means "beloved," which Prince Harry and his soon-to-be-wife, Meghan Markle, have very much become in recent years. David was the seventh name given to former King Edward VIII — the Queen's uncle (better known as the Duke of Windsor).
Prince Andrew
Full Name: Andrew Albert Christian Edward
Title: His Royal Highness Prince Andrew, Duke of York
Birthday: February 19, 1960
Parents: Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip
Meaning of the Name
Andrew: As we saw played out in Netflix's The Crown, the Queen still had a decent relationship with her uncle, Edward VIII, though he gave up the throne, ultimately destining her to become the monarch. Despite his choices, she basically rearranged his name to create Prince Andrew's. Her uncle's full name was Edward Albert Christian George Andrew Patrick David. While we like that idea, it's more likely that they named their second son after Prince Philip's father who was Prince of Denmark and Greece.
Albert: Queen Victoria's husband was named Albert, as was Queen Elizabeth's father (reminder: he later went by George (his fourth name) when he became King).
Christian: Christian was the third name given to Andrew's great uncle King Edward VIII.
Edward: Again, this was the name of King George VI's brother, and it also ended up being the name of Andrew's younger brother.
Princess Beatrice
Full Name: Beatrice Elizabeth Mary
Title: Princess Beatrice of York
Birthday: August 8, 1988
Parents: Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson
Meaning of the Name
Beatrice: Prince Andrew and his now ex-wife Sarah Ferguson, named their first daughter Beatrice, which means "she who brings happiness."
Elizabeth: The Queen's second granddaughter was also given the famous name.
Mary: The princess actually shares two names with her grandmother — Elizabeth and Mary, both of which hold special meaning to King George VI. Not only was Mary of Teck, his mother, but he also had a sister named Mary.
Princess Eugenie
Full Name: Eugenie Victoria Helena
Title: Princess Eugenie of York
Birthday: March 23, 1990
Parents: Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson
Meaning of the Name
Eugenie: Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson's second daughter was born as Eugenie, a name that had been used in the royal family before, but not since Queen Victoria's granddaughter, Princess Victoria Eugenie.
Victoria: It seems that Andrew and Sarah merely swapped the order of the names of the late Princess Victoria Eugenie to get their second daughter's name. The name is still popular today, as we know many famous women with it, including Victoria Beckham.
Helena: The moniker is of Greek origin, meaning "bright, shining light." It's still very much popular in today's culture thanks to Helena Bonham Carter and Helena Christensen.
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