The royal baby finally has a name! After YEARS of waiting (okay it’s been a couple days), Kensington Palace confirmed that Prince William and Kate Middleton’s new son has been called Louis Arthur Charles. LOUIS! It wasn’t even a high contender! And it’s so cute!
Per the palace, the baby will be known as His Royal Highness Prince Louis of Cambridge.
Louis is one of Prince George’s middle names, and was also the first name of Lord Mountbatten, Prince Philip’s uncle. Thus far, no British monarch has been named Louis.
Prince Louis was born at St Mary’s Hospital, London on Monday 23 April weighing 8lb 7oz. The couple introduced their baby boy to the world’s media just a few hours after the Duchess had given birth and after Prince George and Princess Charlotte had come to meet their new sibling.
The choice of name has come as a surprise to many as Arthur, Albert and Philip had all been touted as possible first name suggestions.
Harper’s Bazaar spoke to Sarah-Jayne Ljungstrom, a baby name expert for Channel Mum and a YouTuber, about the origin, history and cultural associations of the name.
‘Louis is a consistently popular name having wavered only 10 places from 61 to 71 in the name charts over the last decade. The name is French in origin and has a suitably strong meaning as “Famous in Battle”,’ she says.
Interestingly, Louis is also a meaningful choice for the royal family in four ways.
Not only is it one of Prince William’s middle names, there was a Prince Louis of Battenberg who was William’s great-great-grandfather, it was also the name of Lord Mountbatten, Prince Philip’s beloved uncle who was killed by the IRA, plus it is one of Prince George’s middle names which Ljungstrom says is a ‘lovely brotherly link’.
