Names That Mean Royal

Even less subtle than Duke or Earl, this name shot up the popularity charts in 2013, the same year young Prince George was born and the craze for all things royal (and Royal) began. Today, it's a leading boys' name on Nameberry's own popularity charts.

Word names may not be gendered in English, but Royal was used mostly for boys—as in Wes Anderson's anti-hero Royal Tennenbaum—until Lil' Kim named her daughter Royal. And why not? It's got a rich sound and a meaning fit for a rap princess....or prince. This puts a new spin on royal baby names.

Although Greek in origin--in the fourth century, a bishop by that name established the principles of the Greek Orthodox Church--Basil for years took on the aura of aquiline-nosed upper-class Britishness of Sherlock Holmes portrayer Basil Rathbone, then spiced with the fragrant aroma of the herb that entered with the Pesto generation.

Royalty was the hottest name of 2016, moving furthest up the ladder to enter the Top 1000, and is also arguably the trendiest name of the past decade, used a whopping 71 times as often in 2017 as it was ten years earlier. Royalty represents the convergence of two important trends: word names and superlative names such as Legend and King. This is one we'll hear a lot of for a while.

Has a legitimate first name history in its native land and an appealing meaning, but pronunciation is far from obvious.

Probably most familiar to those in the west through Kaveh Rastegar, Grammy award-winning guitarist, Kaveh is an Iranian name with a long history and would translate well into English-speaking countries.

In mythology, Iphigenia was sacrificed by her father, Agamemnon -- a difficult legacy to pass on to a daughter, and only one reason the name is hardly ever used.

Punchy surname name that found some favor in the last couple of decades—potentially due to rapper Kendrick Lamar. It was one of the quickest rising boy names in 2013 when it reached its high point at #318.

Rein, along with Reign, have taken over from Rain as a trendy word name. Should you rein it in or let it rein? Okay, bad puns we know, but that's the downside of word names. This is a true unisex name, given to ten girls and eight boys in the US in one recent year.

Vasilia is a feminine form of Vasil, the Slavic and Russian form of Basil. In the US, very rare.

Although Kenton has the trendy K beginning and on ending, and a jazz reference to Stan Kenton, it still manages to sound stiff and old-fashioned.

This ancient Greek male name, well-used in Britain, also has an herbal quality that may explain its increasing use for girls. While as a name it rhymes with dazzle, the herb has a long a, making the pronunciation BAY-zel.

This invented name — a hybrid of Kendrick and Hendrix — was bound to happen.

Basil and all his brothers and sisters have a meaning related to royalty, sometimes cited as king, queen, royal, regal.

Vasily is one of many forms of the Greek Basil, all rare in the US.

Many old school girl names are feminine forms of male names. This one gets an exotic twist from being the female version not of Basil but the form used in Eastern Europe and Russia Vasily. This uncommon name would make an interesting and rare V-starting choice.

Also spelled Kedric, this name has a double origin as either a variant of the surname name Kendrick, or a spelling spin on the literary Cedric, used by Sir Walter Scott for a character in his 1819 novel Ivanhoe. He likely based it on the legendary name Cerdic, which may be a contracted form of Caractacus.

Rein, along with Reign, have taken over from Rain as a trendy word name. Should you rein it in or let it rein? Okay, bad puns we know, but that's the downside of word names. This is a true unisex name, given to ten girls and eight boys in the US in one recent year.

Also spelled Kedrick, this name has a double origin as either a variant of the surname name Kendrick, or a spelling spin on the literary Cedric, used by Sir Walter Scott for a character in his 1819 novel Ivanhoe. He likely based it on the legendary name Cerdic, which may be a contracted form of Caractacus. American football player Kedric Golston is a notable bearer.

Formerly an honorific title, Emebet is now used as a given name in Ethiopia. It is also used to refer to the Virgin Mary.