What names would British monarchs likely have if no Hanoverians?

The name George, for example, was introduced by the Hanoverians. No British monarch had ever been George before them. The only other new name for a monarch since 1714 was Victoria. Even before then, monarchs usually named the heir to the throne using names that other monarchs had already used.

Do you think that if King James VII & II had not been deposed, and the throne had actually followed the more senior line (James VIII & III -> Charles III -> Henry I & IX), there would be fewer names used for future monarchs?

Primarily James and Charles for men, with Henry coming up third and Edward maybe coming in last. I don't think there would have been any more King Williams, it had been more than half a millennium between William II of England and William of Orange. For some reason Richard, Stephen, and John haven't been used since the Plantagenet era.

For women, probably Elizabeth and Mary, and possibly Anne (but keep in mind that without the Orange Usurpation "Glorious" Revolution, Anne would have never been Queen, that said, I find Queen Anne far more likable and sympathetic than William and Mary or George of Hanover)
 
George was not a foreign name. It was never used a regnal name before the Hannoverians, and they certainly popularized it... but it had actually been used before: George, the Duke of Clarence comes to mind... though I suppose he's not a technical prince, since his elevation in status was due to his brother becoming king. Clarence was also, ah... not well liked, so maybe be a reason why it didn't catch out.

Richard as a royal name has... iffy connotations because of Richard III. He literally kidnapped his nephews and murdered them to usurp the throne. John has a similar bad reputation, mainly because of John Lackland, who lost the Angevin holdings in France. Stephen isn't really part of English royal naming conventions: only Stephen of Blois comes to mind, and depending on who you ask, he was little better than a usurper as well.

For sons: Of the Stuarts, they were of course very fond of James, but also Charles: it's definitely possible Charles might get used more commonly, since there would be more positive connotations, instead of it just being associated with Charles I and his gloomy end. It'll probably be more popularized because of Charles II, a rakish rogue but nevertheless a sovereign who tried to do his best. Henry and Edward would likely still be popular naming choices, since they are good, traditional, English names, and also invoke the Tudor period. You could quite possibly see more unique names crop up: James II had a son who died young named Edgar. Perhaps Robert or even Alexander as an ode to their Scottish heritage could be used, too.

For daughters: Elizabeth and Mary, as you've said. Anne would likely be a good choice, but there are other options too: Margaret, Henrietta, Catherine/Charlotte, Sophia. Assuming the Stuarts remain Catholic, you have Maria as an option. Less common might be dual names: Maria Teresa, Henrietta Maria, Maria Anna / Marianna, ect. Some uncommon names might be those invoked from the earlier Stuart kings: Joan, Eleanor, Annabella.

They definitely were more willing to experiment in the 17th and into the 18th century: especially when you had kings that had massive families (George III comes to mind), it often meant getting creative with the names, allowing new names to slip into the royal lexicon, or in most cases... simply slipping out by the next generation. There's the possibility of using royal births to honor other monarchs or their supposed godparents; Victoria, for instance, was actually named Alexandrina Victoria... Alexandrina being for one of her godparents, Emperor Alexander of Russia, and Victoria after her mother. Her parents suggested additional names for the Prince-Regent, namely: Georgiana, Charlotte, and Augusta, but he nixed him. So little Alexandrina Victoria came to be. It would not be all remiss if perhaps there is a little Princess Louisa of Great Britain, perhaps named after the King of France who is her godfather.

Another thing is double or triple barreled names. I'm not sure where the trend picked up, but it was definitely used by the Hannoverians frequently: most princes and princes had two names, if not three. The Stuarts don't really do that; the only one who comes to mind is James VI/I (born James Charles) and then of course Henry Frederick (who likely would've reigned Henry IX had he not died earlier). James II and Charles II had just single names, and James' daughters with Anne Hyde had single names, too. His living son and daughter with Mary of Modena had triple names: James Francis Edward and Louisa Maria Theresa. The Old Pretenders son's also had fairly... involved names, too, similar to Spanish / Portuguese Infantes where they have dozens of names.
 
John has a similar bad reputation, mainly because of John Lackland, who lost the Angevin holdings in France.
Though several Johns have come within a heartbeat of the throne.

Edward I had a son John who was next heir-apparent after him from 1266 until his death in 1271

John of Eltham, bother of Edward III, was heir-presumptive from 1327 until the birth of the Black Prince in 1330.

John Duke of Bedford was heir from 1422 until his death in 1435.

Also I think John of Gaunt was seen in some quarters as heir after Richard II prior to the King's recognition of Roger Mortimer, but I'm not sure if he was ever officially acknowledged as such.
 
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I could see regnal names alternating between James and Henry, similar to the Danish practice with Christian and Frederick.

Another name option is Arthur, used for the second sons of both James IV and James V of Scotland and the eldest son of Henry VII of England.
 
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For males: James and Charles would are most popular. Henry would be in third place. Perhaps Robert too.

For females: Mary and Anna would are most used. Perhaps Margaret and Catherine if king has several daughters. I am not so sure about Charlotte. It wasn't much used before Hannoverians.
 
Any chance after Bonnie Prince Charlie's reign that some Anglicized Polish names make it into Stuart orbit, at least for middle names?
 
Do you think that if King James VII & II had not been deposed, and the throne had actually followed the more senior line (James VIII & III -> Charles III -> Henry I & IX), there would be fewer names used for future monarchs?
Depends on the circumstances and who gets the throne. Royal families often repeated the same names over and over, but you had occasionnal new ones that popped up from time to time. Plus sometimes cadets have been given names that were commonly given but never got on the throne. The firstborn wasn't always the heir however...

It also depends on the royal marriages. It's not uncommon to see names coming from the spouse family from entering the original bloodline.
I don't think there would have been any more King Williams, it had been more than half a millennium between William II of England and William of Orange.
That depends. William is still a pretty popular name in English royalty and nobility. Plus there is the prestige coming from being named after The Conqueror.

It wouldn't necessarilly be a name commonly used by the Stuarts sure but the Stuarts don't necessarilly stay on the throne forever, even without the Orange and Hannoverians coming into the picture.
For some reason Richard, Stephen, and John haven't been used since the Plantagenet era.
Well... Richard somewhat carries a certain baggage because of Richard II and Richard III. It was however given to cadets of the royal family if I remember.

Stephen was litterally only used with Stephen of Blois and he's a really special case. It's not a common name used by English royals no matter the dynasty otherwise. Stephen probably would also be a bit contentious considering the whole Anarchy period wasn't fondly remembered and he was somewhat a usurper...

As for John, the name carries the stigma of having been worn by John Lackland, regarded as the worst King in English History for a wide variety of reasons, some fair, others far from it. As was pointed out though, several Johns came close to the throne and the name was worn by cadets of the royal family. John is also a pretty common ame in the christian world in general.
Another name option is Arthur, used for the second sons of both James IV and James V of Scotland and the eldest son of Henry VII of Scotland.
Plus you know... the whole King Arthur mythos.
Any chance after Bonnie Prince Charlie's reign that some Anglicized Polish names make it into Stuart orbit, at least for middle names?
Don't think so. The Old Pretender is the only one who married a Sobieski and he didn't give polish-inspired name to his kids.

Also he married a granddaughter of John Sobieski... The latter whom had named his sons James, Alexander and Konstanty which is basically Constantine in Polish. Granted King Constantine of Britain would be a new one (and make me laugh because since we mentionned King Arthur I remember the Historia Regnum Britanniae) but it's not specifically polish-inspired.
 
Isn't that originally Spanish?
Not necessarily. Mariana, at least, is of Latin heritage. It's definitely a common Spanish / Italian name, but it even spread as far out to Sweden and Poland. It could serve as a shortened / combined version of Mary Anne.

Don't think so. The Old Pretender is the only one who married a Sobieski and he didn't give polish-inspired name to his kids.

Also he married a granddaughter of John Sobieski... The latter whom had named his sons James, Alexander and Konstanty which is basically Constantine in Polish. Granted King Constantine of Britain would be a new one (and make me laugh because since we mentionned King Arthur I remember the Historia Regnum Britanniae) but it's not specifically polish-inspired.
Actually, he did. The Younger Pretender, Charles Edward Stuart had a slew of middle names: Charles Edward Louis John Sylvester Maria Casimir. Casimir is of Polish extraction. Henry Benedict had a mouthful of names, too: Henry Benedict Thomas Edward Maria Clement Francis Xavier. I think the main issue is, presuming there's a Jacobite Restoration, the Old Pretender will be able to procure a much better wife than a granddaughter of John Sobieski.

I'm really unsure why the Old Pretender's sons received so many names: certainly James II started the trend with his children by Mary of Modena, in that they had triple barreled names. The only time I've seen long names like these are in the Spanish and Portuguese royal families, and occasionally in some of the Catholic German dynasties like the Wettins of Saxony and the Habsburgs to an extent. The Bourbons mainly used double names, though Louis XVI's children with Marie-Antoinette seemed to also trend in the direction of having various names: the first Dauphin was Louis-Joseph with additional middle names of Xavier and François, her daughter was Marie-Thérèse Charlotte. The future Louis XVII was Louis Charles, and their short lived daughter Sophie also had the names Hélène and Béatrix. The next generation of the Bourbons, in the 19th century also followed this trend in a way: the Count of Chambord had quite a few middle names. Louis Philippe's kids tend to follow the trend of having additional middle names, too. It wasn't necessarily a "Catholic" trend, since even the British royals now have a slew of middle names.
 
he didn't give polish-inspired name to his kids.
he did too

Bonnie Prince Charlie had "Casimir" among his names and I think the Cardinal-Duke of York had some Polish inspired name as well. True, they weren't first names, but those names could be used for younger cadets. France- for instance- had no instance with a "Louis Stanislas" or a "Charles Casimir". So I don't think it's entirely ASB for a king to wind up with a Polish second name instead of German (like Frederick or Ernst)
 
George was not a foreign name. It was never used a regnal name before the Hannoverians, and they certainly popularized it... but it had actually been used before: George, the Duke of Clarence comes to mind... though I suppose he's not a technical prince, since his elevation in status was due to his brother becoming king. Clarence was also, ah... not well liked, so maybe be a reason why it didn't catch out.

Richard as a royal name has... iffy connotations because of Richard III. He literally kidnapped his nephews and murdered them to usurp the throne. John has a similar bad reputation, mainly because of John Lackland, who lost the Angevin holdings in France. Stephen isn't really part of English royal naming conventions: only Stephen of Blois comes to mind, and depending on who you ask, he was little better than a usurper as well.

For sons: Of the Stuarts, they were of course very fond of James, but also Charles: it's definitely possible Charles might get used more commonly, since there would be more positive connotations, instead of it just being associated with Charles I and his gloomy end. It'll probably be more popularized because of Charles II, a rakish rogue but nevertheless a sovereign who tried to do his best. Henry and Edward would likely still be popular naming choices, since they are good, traditional, English names, and also invoke the Tudor period. You could quite possibly see more unique names crop up: James II had a son who died young named Edgar. Perhaps Robert or even Alexander as an ode to their Scottish heritage could be used, too.

For daughters: Elizabeth and Mary, as you've said. Anne would likely be a good choice, but there are other options too: Margaret, Henrietta, Catherine/Charlotte, Sophia. Assuming the Stuarts remain Catholic, you have Maria as an option. Less common might be dual names: Maria Teresa, Henrietta Maria, Maria Anna / Marianna, ect. Some uncommon names might be those invoked from the earlier Stuart kings: Joan, Eleanor, Annabella.

They definitely were more willing to experiment in the 17th and into the 18th century: especially when you had kings that had massive families (George III comes to mind), it often meant getting creative with the names, allowing new names to slip into the royal lexicon, or in most cases... simply slipping out by the next generation. There's the possibility of using royal births to honor other monarchs or their supposed godparents; Victoria, for instance, was actually named Alexandrina Victoria... Alexandrina being for one of her godparents, Emperor Alexander of Russia, and Victoria after her mother. Her parents suggested additional names for the Prince-Regent, namely: Georgiana, Charlotte, and Augusta, but he nixed him. So little Alexandrina Victoria came to be. It would not be all remiss if perhaps there is a little Princess Louisa of Great Britain, perhaps named after the King of France who is her godfather.

Another thing is double or triple barreled names. I'm not sure where the trend picked up, but it was definitely used by the Hannoverians frequently: most princes and princes had two names, if not three. The Stuarts don't really do that; the only one who comes to mind is James VI/I (born James Charles) and then of course Henry Frederick (who likely would've reigned Henry IX had he not died earlier). James II and Charles II had just single names, and James' daughters with Anne Hyde had single names, too. His living son and daughter with Mary of Modena had triple names: James Francis Edward and Louisa Maria Theresa. The Old Pretenders son's also had fairly... involved names, too, similar to Spanish / Portuguese Infantes where they have dozens of names.
David maybe due to the scotland connection?
 
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