(originally published October 19, 2005)
Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary of Denmark have just had their first baby, a son. The baby's name has not yet been announced. So this seems like a good time to consider the topic of Danish royal names. (You can read my earlier blog entry on English royal names here.)
In the lists below I have used the Danish forms of names, with the English forms of some names in parentheses.
Names of kings of Denmark: Harald (Harold), Svend/Sven (Sweyn), Knud (Canute), Hardeknud (Hardicanute), Magnus, Oluf/Olaf, Erik (Eric), Niels, Valdemar/Waldemar, Abel, Christoffer (Christopher), Christian, Hans (John), Frederik (Frederick)
Since the 16th century, Danish kings have been alternately named Christian or Frederik. In all there have been nine King Frederiks and 10 King Christians. The current heir to the throne is named Frederik, so it is expected he will probably follow tradition and name his newborn son Christian.
Names of reigning Danish queens: Margrete/Margrethe (Margaret)
Children of the Danish monarchs of the past 200 years (if I missed any, let me know):
Christian VII's children: Frederik, Louise
Frederik VI's children: Christian, Marie, Caroline, Louise, Christian, Juliana, Frederikke (Frederica), Wilhelmine (Wilhelmina)
Christian VIII's children: Christian, Frederik
Frederik VII's children: none
Christian IX's children: Christian, Alexandra, Vilhelm/Wilhelm, Dagmar, Thyra, Valdemar
Frederik VIII's children: Christian, Carl, Louise, Harald, Ingeborg, Thyra, Gustav, Dagmar
Christian X's children: Frederik, Knud
Frederik IX's children: Margrethe, Benedikte (Benedicta), Anne-Marie
Margrethe II's children: Frederik, Joachim
A few more Danish royal names:
Princess Benedikte's children: Gustav, Alexandra, Nathalie
Prince Joachim's children: Nikolai (Nicholas), Felix
Putting all these names together produces this partial list of Danish royal names:
Male: Abel, Carl, Christian, Christoffer, Erik, Felix, Gustav, Hans, Harald, Joachim, Knud, Magnus, Niels, Nikolai, Oluf, Svend, Valdemar, Vilhelm
Female: Alexandra, Anne-Marie, Benedikte, Caroline, Dagmar, Frederikke, Ingeborg, Juliana, Louise, Margrethe, Marie, Nathalie, Thyra, Wilhelmine
I'll update this entry when the newborn prince is named!
January 2006 update: The baby's name is Christian Valdemar Henri John.