Decisions, decisions. That’s like 99 percent of a parent’s duties , starting with the very first big decision: naming their child.
Some parents make a royal mistake with this by naming their children “Karen” or some other name that a celebrity would probably use (looking at you, Gwyneth Paltrow ).
So when a father took to Reddit to share his worries about naming his son after Queen Elizabeth , people certainly had thoughts.
Surprise, surprise: there’s royal protocol when it comes to naming a baby born into the royal family.
The first rule is that most of the children don’t have a surname . Think for a moment about what Prince Harry and Prince Williams’s last name is.
You don’t know it, do you? That’s because most of the kids don’t have surnames.
For example, Prince William and Kate William’s children are referred to as Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis. Since they have no ironclad last name, they go by their parent’s new title, Prince and Princess of Wales.
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This means they go by George, Louis, and Charlotte Wales at school.
The second rule is that royal babies, especially those at the top of the line for the throne, have at least three names. For example, the late Queen Elizabeth’s full name was Elizabeth Alexandra Mary.
Charles’ is Charles Philip Arthur George, William’s is William Arthur Philip Louis, and Harry’s is Henry Charles Albert David.
“Babies born into the royal family are typically given multiple names at birth, many of which honor members of their family,” according to The Independent.
The same rule doesn’t apply to everyone in the royal family.
“The further down the line of succession, the more likely you are to have a more unique or untraditional name,” says Carolyn Harris, author of Raising Royalty: 1,000 Years of Royal Parenting.
A good example of this is Princess Eugenie.
What about naming your child after the late Queen? Prince Harry and Meghan Markle already named their daughter after the late Queen: Lilibet ‘Lili’ Diana Mountbatten-Windsor. The history of this dates back to the Queen’s childhood.
She reportedly couldn’t pronounce her name.
Then, the queen reportedly left a handwritten note on her father, King George VI’s, coffin and signed it “Lilibet.”
Speaking of naming your child after the Queen, that’s exactly what one man on Reddit wants to do.
He took to the subreddit r/namenerds to share his thoughts.
“My great grandfather’s name was Royal. Wife and I are thinking about naming our son Royal with this in mind,” he began.
“We’re from the south and if strikes me as an interesting strong southern name, certainly a name one would remember. I think it’s rad, my wife is on the fence but is considering it.”
His concern, however, is that the name sounds “douchey, sort of like naming your child Lexus or Rich.”
“I definitely don’t want to saddle my son with something he hates, but I know of certain folks with unique names and it gives them a type of gravitas, especially if there is an actual connection to something.”
Many people in the comments echoed his same concerns.
“Yeah, it’s too much,” one wrote. “You gotta be a certain type of person to wear Royal proudly. Some kids might love having that name, others might hate it. It’s a coin toss, something to think about,” another added.
“Reminds me of something a Kardashian would name their child. It’s a no from me!” a third wrote.
Some recommended that he make “Royal” his son’s middle name.
“I second this. It’s an awesome family name, but I think it definitely falls into the “douche-y” grey space OP is worried about as a first name,” another wrote.
Check out more comments here!