Names That Mean King, Queen, Ruler or Royal

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

Prince rose to its highest ranking in a century in 2015, and the tragic death of its most famous bearer in April 2016 propelled it even higher. The Purple Rain legend isn't its only tie to pop royalty: Michael Jackson chose it for not one but two of his sons. Royal names such as King and Prince, once thought of as canine, have begun to be used by human non-royals for their sons.

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

Theodoric feels prehistoric, though with short form Theo one of the hottest names around, this old German names for boys may soon feel new again.

This noble title — the female equivalent of a knight — makes an inventive choice for a daughter. More subtle than Queen or Princess, Dame is a fresh way to get in on the regal word name trend. We know of at least one female Babyberry named Dame, although it's never been given to more than five baby girls in a single year.

Federica is the Latin version of Frederica, one of those formerly stuffy female names -- think Josephine and Eleanor -- that feels fresh and elegant again. And Federica has more energy without that first r.

There's a craze for royal names right now, including Royal itself, so c'mon down, Contessa, and join Prince, King, Duke, Royalty -- the whole blue-blooded gang. Bonus: Short form Tess or Tessa makes this an almost-ordinary name.

A common name in Indonesia that would not work well in English-speaking countries, being too close to putrid or putty.

A wonderful Yiddish diminutive of Sarah, most familiar to Americans as the name of Tevye’s eldest daughter in Joseph Stein’s Fiddler on the Roof.

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.

The American child given this name of four kings of Denmark, not to mention one so similar to that of the Harry Potter archvillain Lord Voldemort, might have to pay a large emotional import tax.

Like Mitzi, the bubbly Fritzi shows signs of rising again. Has a bit of a comic-strip feel.

Rarely heard surname name that lacks the lightness of other o-ending names.

Semiramis was the most important Queen of Assyria, who conquered much of Asia. Semiramis restored ancient Babylon and protected it with a high brick wall that completely surrounded the city. Then she built several palaces in Persia, reigned much of Asia Minor effectively and conquered Libya and Ethiopia.

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

Torvald, not to be confused with Torvill of skating fame, is a Norse name which might be of interest to parents looking for Thor-related options. Torvald is most familiar in the English-speaking world as the infuriatingly sexist husband of Nora in Ibsen's play A Doll's House, which may account for its low usage. However, Linus Torvalds, inventor of Linux , might put the name into a more positive light, especially in Silicon Valley.

Think Harry with a go-getter ending.

This pretty Finnish name is a diminutive of a diminutive, going from Sarah to Sari to Saija.

Completely undiscovered double-l name with an abundance of rhythmic charm.

Quirky and cute.