Names That Mean King

An English surname originally given to the illegitimate sons of a monarch. Might be a nice middle name choice to honor an ancestral Roy.

A traditional Russian diminutive of Vasiliy, never given as a full name there but occasionally found as such outside of Russia. The name Vasily/Vaska has also been popular in the country of Georgia.

One of the more subtle of the names with a royal meaning, Delroy has a vintage flavor and would be a distinctive choice today.

The Finnish writer Mika Waltari invented the name Minea from the Greek Minos for a character in his 1945 novel The Egyptian. It's become a popular Finnish name in the 21st century.

The Swiss city of Basel was first Basilia, thought to have been dubbed in honor of the Roman castle of the same name. The castle's name would have derived from Basilius, a Roman personal name from which the name Basil also originated.

Ancient Irish king of the underworld, so much more powerful than Don.

Melker, a modern phonetic spelling of ancient Three Wise Men name Melchior, is in the Swedish Top 100 though not used in the US, where it would be heard as "milker." Nickname Mel is not exactly a fashionable choice at the moment either.

Lively and joyful. Jovie could be a cute short form.

The name of the late husband of Naomi in the Bible.

In Greek Mythology, Minos was the first king of Crete. The Minotaur was born to his wife after Minos refused to sacrifice his bull to Poseidon.

A new one for the ever-growing collection of royal baby names.

A Welsh take on the trend for royalty names, which a few parents in Wales have started to use in recent years.

This variation spelling of Balthasar is most often used in South America. Argentinian football star Joan Figallo recently called his son Baltazar.

A legendary Cornish ruler who inherited the northern part of his father’s land while the southern part went to his brother Belinus. Their statues now stand on either side of St John‘s Gate in Bristol.

The Estonian form on Heinrich would make a one-of-a-kind choice in the US — it's never placed on the American charts.

Borrowed or coined by J K Rowling for a vain and selfish teacher in the Harry Potter books, this dramatic name may also be a rare variant of the surname Gilroy, meaning "son of the king's servant".

A traditional Russian diminutive of the male name Vasiliy, also used for its female form Vasilija in Macedonia, Serbia and Bulgaria.

An aristocratic French surname which is synonymous with the indulged child created by Frances Hodgson Burnett in her book Little Lord Fauntleroy. Fauntleroy is also Donald Duck's middle name.

Kende is derived from the Hungarian title kende, referring to the king of Magyar, the nation that predated Hungary.