Princess Charlotte: How popular is the name? (+interactive)

NZ Herald

5 May, 2015 08:35 PM2 mins to read

Find out how popular your name is on our interactive. Photo / Thinkstock

Charlotte is a name fit for a princess - as well as the 5997 New Zealand-born babies given the name over the past 29 years.

Meanwhile, the Princess' middle names - Elizabeth and Diana - are not so common in this Commonwealth country.

Department of Internal Affairs figures show that since 1985 the name given to Britain's newest royal, Her Royal Highness Princess Charlotte of Cambridge, has been in the country's top 50 most popular names. Last year, as well as in 2006 and 2013, the name hit number one, when 255 Charlottes were born.

A sharp increase of 117 per cent in the name's popularity, between 2001 (152) and 2004 (330), coincided with the reign of Sex and the City TV character Charlotte York Goldenblatt and popular Welsh songstress Charlotte Church.

We're thankful to Cameron Prebble for giving us permission to share the Baby Names visualisation.

Earl Spencer, the young Princess' great uncle and brother of Diana, Princess of Wales, seemingly approved of the newborn's names, tweeting: "My 2-year-old Charlotte Diana will be thrilled at cousinly name-sharing."

The new Princess' middle names, Elizabeth and Diana, have not been as popular. Elizabeth has been in the top 100 over the past 30 years, while Diana has not featured at all. Between 1985 and 2014, 3432 babies were named Elizabeth. The name's popularity peaked in 1989, when 192 babies made it the 25th most popular girl's name in New Zealand.

Diana, Princess of Wales' name, did not make the Kiwi top 100 in the past 30 years.

After a decline to only three Dianas born in 2009, the name saw a small resurgence to 12 in 2012, and last year eight girls were given the name.

The new Princess is not the first royal Charlotte. Born in 1744, Queen Charlotte had 15 children with Mad King George - George III. Their first daughter, another Charlotte, was born in 1766, and in 1796 King George IV named his only child Charlotte.