As Shakespeare famously wrote: “What's in a name?” In the case of the British Royal Family, the answer is, “quite a lot.”
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex (Prince Harry and his wife Meghan) have named their son Archie – or Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor, to give him his full name. This breaks with convention, with neither the name Archie nor Harrison having any British royal connections.
It has been a tradition for royals to dip into a pool of historic names. Indeed, a look at our infographic shows that over the past 100 years, neither of the baby's first names has been given to a royal.
The announcement of the name caught traditionalists by surprise and is in contrast to those chosen by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (Prince William and his wife Catherine) for their children – George, Charlotte, and Louis, which all feature on our infographic.
An infographic shows the top royal names in the past 200 years. /CGTN Photo
An infographic shows the top royal names in the past 200 years. /CGTN Photo
UK bookmakers were also caught out by the names. Ladbrokes said in a press release that before the name announcement Alexander was thought to be the most likely choice, followed by James and Arthur. Whereas Archie was nowhere to be found among the top contenders. According to the company, only 100 pounds (130 U.S. dollars) in total was bet on the name, spread across 60 customers.
Also, while the baby has become seventh-in-line to the throne – pushing Prince Andrew, the second son of the Queen, into eighth place – the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have decided against giving their son a courtesy title, such as earl or lord, and Archie will instead use “master” for formal correspondence. This again contrasts with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, whose children have taken the titles of Prince and Princess.
(Cover: A notice placed on an easel in the forecourt of Buckingham Palace announces the birth of a baby boy to Britain's Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex in London, Britain May 6, 2019. /VCG Photo)