Never Mind ‘Elizabeth’ – Royal Baby Could be a ‘Lancelot’, ‘Boniface’ or ‘Grissel’
If Prince William and Kate Middleton decide to take baby-name inspiration from their forebears, the royal baby could be born a ‘Grissel’, ‘Boniface’ or even ‘Lancelot’.
New research from Ancestry.co.uk, the UK’s favourite family history website, reveals that while ‘Elizabeth’ and ‘John’ are the most common boys and girls names in both family trees, there are several more unusual choices the young royals could opt for.
The royal family tree contains the most unusual names – with Boniface, Cyrian, Marmaduke, Slyvanus and Lancelot all featuring in the male line, while Eusebia, Honor, Thomasin, Ursula and Hyacinth appear for the females.
And while many of Kate’s female ancestors have more recognisable names, her ancestors weren’t without some interesting monikers as well. Among the boys are Garin, Lewen, Theophilus, Uriah and Elie, together with girls called Permelia, Albina, Edezer, Grissel and Jemima.
Miriam Silverman, UK Content Manager, from Ancestry.co.uk comments: “In today’s culture for celebrity baby names, Kate and William very well might decide to opt for a more unusual name themselves. With ‘Lancelot’, ‘Boniface’, and ‘Grissel’ among their forebears, they don’t need to look further than their own family tree.”
Don’t forget you can search records, build your family tree and discover more about your family history over on the main site.
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It is obviously up to them to choose the names but traditionally the names include former monarchs. John has links to ‘Bad King John’ and his rule during the reign of Richard I. Elizabeth might raise issues as The Queen is not Elizabeth II of Scotland since her namesake was not Queen of Scotland, but as Scotland might well be independent by that time it might be irrelevant. Even with a given name that name is not necessarily the one they are known by, e.g. Edward VIII (David) and George VI (Albert I think).