On Friday, June 4, Meghan and Harry’s second child was born. And after months of anticipation, we now know her name: Lilibet Diana Mountbatten-Windsor. The name honors two generations of women in the lives of the royal couple. Lilibet was Queen Elizabeth II’s nickname when she was a child. It came about when, as a young girl, she was unable to pronounce her full name. Later in life, it was the pet name the late Prince Phillip used for his wife. The couple will call her Lili, which nicely complements her older brother Archie’s nickname-style name.
Lili may be an honor name on Meghan’s side, too. On her maternal side, the Duchess of Sussex had a great-great aunt named Lillie who died when Meghan was 22. This great-great aunt, Lillie Ragland, was a successful realtor and worked as a housekeeper for Bette Davis. According to Lillie’s husband, Meghan and Lillie had a lot in common. He describes them as “two pioneers that tore down walls, that are for the people, that just want to give – loving spirits.” It’s also been said that the name holds significance for Meghan in that her childhood nickname from her mother is “Flower” and she carried lily of the valley in her wedding bouquet.
Our first reaction when the royal baby name was announced? “Our reader Megan nailed it!”
Nicely done, Megan! Other reader favorites were Artemis, Delilah, Ruby, Esme, Luna, Daisy, Maisie, and Margot.
In our baby-name picks for the royal baby, we were crossing our fingers for Eliza as a variation of Elizabeth. But, Lilibet has family significance as a personal nickname for the Queen and we appreciate any name choice with meaningful family ties.
And then there’s the middle name: Diana. We assumed they’d honor her in the middle name spot and in fact they did. Star thought they’d go with something that gestured toward Diana without using her actual name, while Lynda felt strongly that they’d use Diana (and she was right 😊 ).
Since Archie was very popular in the UK when they chose it, the mainstream choice of Lili for their daughter fits in nicely. Lily (the name’s most popular spelling) sits at #9 on the UK’s baby-name popularity list. In the US, the name is slowly dropping down the charts, after being at its most popular point ever in the US rankings in 2011 (#14). While we were expecting a name that is popular in the UK and up-and-coming in the US, parallel to Archie, it seems that this time around, family significance was top priority.
In the days since Lili Mountbatten-Windsor’s name was announced, there have been countless opinions on the name from those that see it as cynical and tone-deaf to those that praise the “sweet tribute” and those that see it as an “olive branch” extended to the royal family by Meghan and Harry. As always seems to be the case when baby names are announced–but especially when those babies are royal–people have been vocal.
Our opinions? Seeing as Archie’s middle name, Harrison, literally means “Harry’s son,” we were hopeful for a similar tribute to Meghan somewhere in the name. While Lili does seem to have associations for both sides of the family, Lilibet was essentially created by the Queen and is inextricably tied to her. Even a name related to Meghan and Harry’s identity as a couple (their travels, non-profit work, etc.) would’ve been a nice way to spotlight their lives outside the royal family. Regardless, the name is a beauty and seems to have been chosen with love.
So how about you? What do you all think of the new royal baby’s name? Give us your thoughts in the comments!