Noble Names: Earls, Dukes, Kings and Queenies

I LOVE the name Regina. Too bad my husband doesn’t.

Reina/Raina is on our possibility list.

Rex has a dashing Prohibition-era feel to me, because of Rex Stout who wrote the Nero Wolfe mysteries.

Regina, Duke and Baron are “useable” to me

My name is Reine. I am one of the 700 people in the US with that name. And believe me, the pronounciation is all but obvious. My parents pronounce it Rainy, but the correct pronounciation is closer to Wren then Raine.
And, I’ve heard fourteen different pronounciations. Go with Reina instead.

Knight is a potential name choice for me- simply because my favorite teacher’s surname was Knight.

This is very odd, and I never put all of these coincidences together, but — I have a student in my 6th grade class this year named Queenie (I think it’s adorable, maybe because she’s such a great kid), a coworker named Reina (also a beautiful name), and one of my closest friends is named Royale – and every time she introduces herself to someone new, she’s met with the same reaction – “Ooo, what a pretty name!” I have a lot of royalty in my life, I suppose.

Title names are not my favorite. I wonder if they work better in the US than overseas where families still have them as titles. I went to a private school in Germany and had a Countess and a Duke in my class (titles not names). I think using any of those as a name would feel odd to me. (Though I can see Rex if it didn’t remind me of the famous German TV “Comissar Rex” – which is about a German Shepard police dog named Rex.)

You forgot Reina. It means Queen in Spanish.

I’m not a big fan of title names, but I do like Duke and Royal is growing on me.

My grandfather’s middle name is Earl (it was my great-grandfather’s first name). I wonder if I will fall in love with it when it comes time to name my children. In fact, I might not even like the name if it didn’t remind me of Papa. I like Early as a middle name alternative to Earl, but I don’t love that either. I am not a fan of any of the other names on this list.

This kind of relates to this post, but when I was born my grandparents met parents of a baby girl who was born around the same time as I was. They told my grandparents they were going to name their daughter Cinderella! They were 100% serious about this name and to this day I wonder how she got along in her childhood, especially being in high school now. My grandmother tried to convince them to name her maybe Cindy or Ella or even a different princess name! But in this post, I do know someone named Queenie, Regina, and I also know a Reyna and that name is growing on me!

“and the junior Donald Trumps spelled their boy’s name Barron”

Barron Trump is actually the son of Donald Trump Sr. & Melania Trump. Donald Trump Jr. does not have a son named Barron.

I once babysat a girl named Queen. Not Queenie, just Queen.

Oh I love the name Rex!! These names seem slightly more appropriate for … dogs. But I do see their appeal. I think Contessa is a really pretty name, but oddly it’s not on nameberry so I’m not sure if it’s related to Countess.

My favorite name meaning queen is Malka.

I stand corrected!

Forgive me for putting a downer on some wonderful names, but in some countries isn’t it against the law to bestow a given name which may be mistaken for a title? So that would rather rule out most of these names for certain areas of the world?

Queenie is absolutely lovely! I especially like it as a nn for Victoria/Elizabeth.

I like Regina based solely upon the reference to Friends (IE: ‘Regina Phalange’ hahaha, I love Phoebe). Although thinking about it, it IS very pretty.

The only name I really like on this list is Laird. It’s on my list but I can’t get hubby onboard. I have a cousin Barron so I like this name also since he’s great but I obviously wouldn’t be able to use it.

I think title names are usually either lowbrow (Princess, anyone?) or confusing (as with military titles, such as Major or Ensign, or professional titles, such as Doctor or Dean). Best avoided either way in most cases.

I know two guys named Rex, one is in his 30s the other is probably 90. I think it’s a nice name and never associated it with dogs or found it too hard to wear.

I also know a guy named Duke and the royalty thing never really crossed my mind.

As someone who grew up in Detroit–where minority poverty is rather high–I’d have to say that these names scream “low class” to me. I have known a number of Princess’s, Prince’s, King’s, Marquis’s, Queenie’s, and also Diamond’s, and one “Famous.” I have always, ALWAYS associated these names with low-class, obnoxious, disrespectful, fist-throwing, unteachably unintelligent minorities in poverty. I would not recommend using these names for you children if you live anywhere near Detroit or another big city where there are high numbers of poverty; your kids simply WILL NOT find a job. They will not get far in life. They will just end up changing their names. That being said, all of these are fine as nicknames if you don’t mind the association with dog’s names.

I went to school with siblings named Prince, Princess, and… Mercedes.

dayjoysky2815, what about people who pluralize with apostrophes?

Royal names might get more popular because of the new show, Once Upon a Time. The evil queen’s name is Regina… Awesome show if you haven’t seen it!!

I have known Princess, Duke and Baron (sibset) and Marquis (pronounced with a “qu” like “queen”). I’ve also known a Sir and a Precious which I think kinda have the same inflated feeling. I wouldn’t use any of the names except Royal, which I love but would probably have to be a mn. I first heard it on the title character in The Royal Tenenbaums. He’s not the greatest guy but the name’s awesome.

I had a dog named Duchess, but I can’t really see it being wearable for a person.