Everything You Need to Know About Meghan and Harry's Royal Baby Name Pick
Lilibet Diana was the perfect way to honor Harry's family. Here's why.
It turns out the bookies weren't exactly wrong with their royal baby name front runners-most people were betting that Harry and Meghan would pick Diana or Elizabeth for their daughter. Both those names are represented, though Elizabeth in a new-fashioned way.
Lilibet Diana is the royal baby name pick-making little Lili the second royal named in honor of her grandmother and great-grandmother (her cousin Princess Charlotte Elizabeth Diana was also given the names in tribute to the queen and the late Princess of Wales).
Lilibet is a variation on Elizabeth-the name of Harry's grandmother and also her legendary predecessor from about 500 years ago. It means "consecrated to God," and this fresh take on the perennial top 20 name is rarely used-fewer than five girls in the U.S. in 2020 were given the name. As shown on The Crown, this has been a familly nickname for the queen, but I doubt the bookies will honor this choice for those who bet on Elizabeth.
Meghan and Harry plan on calling her Lili, which will be a spelling variation on the lovely floral name that's currently solidly in the top 50 names in the U.S. The Social Security Administration first recorded the name Lili in the U.S. in September 1871, according to Names.org. And from 1880 to 2019, there have been 3,497 babies in the U.S. born with the name Lili. For this royal baby, Lili could also be a little private homage to Meghan's mother, who often called her "Flower" as a childhood nickname.
Diana, of course, is chosen in honor of Harry's mother, the late Princess Diana. It means "divine," and was the Roman version of the Greek goddess Artemis, who was associated with fertility, the moon, and hunting. Diana is still relatively uncommon in the U.S., currently falling just inside the top 250 names.
In all, it's a lovely name pick which pays homage to the couple's families, but still adds a little tweak to make it a little more unexpected.
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