Guessing Danish names…

It seems from the royal calendar that Crown Princess Mary has gone on maternity leave – or as good as, anyway. With the birth getting closer by the day, here is a small speculation on what the twins might end up being called.

Feel free to chime in with interesting names for royal twins in the comment section.

First of all, it would depend on whether they end up boy/girl, girl/girl or boy/boy. Out of the 73 who have answered the poll in the sidebar here by now – 37 favour boy/girl.

The Danish royal family have tended to give their children four names each for the past two generations. This means there is a total of 16 baby names that must be guessed, 8 of both sexes. (Just in case.)

As we move further out in the line of succession, guessing the names become more difficult, but also more interesting. The first names should also work together with Christian and Isabella’s names.

Two of the names on the boys’ list will likely be Christian and Frederik, despite the fact that there already is a Prince Christian in the flock. Should the unfortunate thing happen, the tradition of the king of Denmark being named either Christian or Frederik must go on.

The cousin, Prince Henrik is the first male in a while with rights to the throne, who does not have either of the two names, but as he is currently the seventh in line naming tradition is no longer as essential.

Mary and Frederik may choose to pick from royal Danish tradition, they might choose family names from the Donaldson side of the family, they might choose French names or they might end up picking Danish names.

Popular names in Denmark

Here they can either go trendy or names that are more commonly used amongst the populace.

The ten most popular names for Danish boys in 2009 were Mikkel, Lucas, William, Emil, Noah, Victor, Magnus, Oliver, Frederik and Mathias.

Whereas the ten most popular names for Danish girls in 2009 were Freja, Ida, Emma, Lærke, Caroline, Anna, Isabella, Sofie, Mathilde and Sara.

From the most used names, today the ten most common names for males in Denmark are Jens, Peter, Lars, Michael, Henrik, Søren, Thomas, Niels, Jan and Jørgen. The ten most common names for females are Anne, Kirsten, Hanne, Mette, Anna, Helle, Susanne, Lene, Karen and Inge.

Names in history

Historical Danish names that have been used on royal females include Louise, Charlotte, Amalie, Richeza, Sofie, Hedwig, Magdalena, Estrid, Thyra, Ulrika, Eleonora, Vilhelmine, Ernestine, Caroline, Margrethe, Ingrid, Augusta, Ingeborg, Gunhild, Feodora, Elisabeth, Dorothea, Christina, Adela, Agnes, Catherine (sister of Isabella of Castile), Berengaria, Matilda,  Dagmar, Anne, Emma, Eleanor (sister to Isabella of Castile) and  Euphemia.

Male royal names include  Frederik, Christian, Georg/Jørgen, Harald, Gorm, Gustav, Ferdinand, Flemming, Erik,  Aage, Axel and Viggo

Apart from Christian and Margrethe, I am not including any of the names given to the two children Mary and Frederik already have. Nor am I including names that their cousins, Nikolai, Felix and Henrik have.

The following is just a guess.

Guess for 8 names for males.

Christian – It has to be in there if there are two boys.

Frederik – If there is only one boy, they might go for this instead of Christian.

Ferdinand – A royal Danish name, also the brother of the historic queen Isabella.

Flemming – An arch-typical Danish name, as well as the name of the Danish Prince turned Count of Rosenberg.

Peter – As well as being a common Danish name, it is also the name of  Mary’s paternal grandfather.

Thomas – A popular Danish name, as well as having historical connection to Mary’s mother’s grandfather.

Georg – Historical Danish royal name. The spouse of Queen Anne of the United Kingdom was Danish Prince Georg (or Jørgen as the Danish version was back then, but that would be too much for the international side of the family.)

Gorm – Historical Danish royal name, and since Prince Christian hooked Valdemar, it is fitting with another saga king.

Guess for 8 names for females

Anne – I admit to being biased, but it is a regal name, one of Mary’s sisters is also called Anne, and it is a name that work in multiple languages.

Louise – It has been a while since the last Louise in the Danish royal family. But it is a name that works well with Christian and Isabella.

Dorothea – Also a royal Danish name, that works well with Christian and Isabella.

Emma – historical royal name, as well as a popular name in Denmark today.

Margrethe – almost a given.

Ingrid – the question is if Isabella being given this name will suffice for the family.

Ingeborg – Danish princess who married the Swedish Prince. Mother of Queen Astrid of Belgium, among others.

Hedwig – In these Harry Potter times…

(I am almost tempted to suggest Catherine in these crazy wedding times, as she was also a sister of Isabella and Ferdinand, but will refrain.)

Honorable mentions in the female category are Thyra and Dagmar, because I keep suggesting them every time there is a baby name guessing going on – and haven’t been heard so far. For twins it would be ideal, since there were two Danish princesses by those names in two generations not too long ago. But I keep getting shot down on Dagmar by Aussies on message boards, even though the Danish pronunciation swallows the G… so I guess I’ll let that one lie for now.

What are your suggestions?