Princess Charlotte: how royal baby names have changed throughout history

What's in a name? Baby name expert Sasha Miller weighs in on Charlotte Elizabeth Diana
New arrival: Kate and William with the new princess on Saturday
Getty Images
Reenat Sinay12 May 2015

The Great Kate Wait is over and the nation has a new princess. But after all the speculation and betting, Will and Kate stayed traditional and went with Charlotte Elizabeth Diana.

Sasha Miller, international managing editor of BabyCentre, says there was little chance the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge would have gone for something more offbeat.

"It was very unlikely that Kate and William would choose an unusual name and the fact that Charlotte is the feminine form of Charles made it the front runner. I think there was a widespread expectation that Elizabeth and Diana would be the middle names – they are such iconic figures both within the Royal family and the British public. I suspect there would have been widespread disappointment if the princess hadn’t been given these names," she says.

However, it seems that the farther down the line of succession the baby is, the more creative the parents can allow themselves to be.

"Amongst those who are the top end of the chain of succession, baby names have changed very little: Elizabeth, Charles, William, George - they all have royal precedents. But there are more adventurous names within the royal family: Beatrice and Eugenie were surprising choices, and Zara, the name Princess Anne chose for her daughter, was surprisingly modern," says Miller.

The Princess of Cambridge greets the world

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Miller adds: "Charlotte is a very popular name as it is pretty and traditional without being too old fashioned," she says.

Charlotte was the 17th most popular name for girls in 2014. However, that rating is set to fall in the next couple of years.

"Parents don't want to be labelled as having been influenced by others in their baby name choice, particularly by such a high-profile family. That was a pattern we saw very clearly after the birth of Charlotte’s older brother in 2013; the name George quickly dipped in popularity in the charts. New parents who had been thinking of naming their baby Charlotte, may well now be thinking again," says Miller.

At least the princess will be relatively unique among her own family. The last time we had a royal Charlotte in Britain was 1796, when Princess Charlotte Augusta of Wales - the only child of King George IV - was born.

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