The Baby Has a Name

So, Will and Kate named their baby (who may wind up as King of England 60 or 70 years from now) George.  According to Wikipedia: George is a widespread given name. The name derives from the Greek word γεωργός (geōrgos), “earth-worker”, “farmer”,^[1] which became a name in Greek: Γεώργιος (Geōrgios), and Latin: Georgius. The word “γεωργός” is a compound word, formed by the words γῆ (gē), “earth”, “soil”^[2] and ἔργον (ergon), “work”

Little George

So, Georgos means farmer, but it sort of sounds like “gay orgy,” which makes me think of George Michael, who I  admire  not so much for his music but because he’s a big advocate of marijuana, so we have that in common.

I was watching some “royal name expert” on TV, and he was pointing out how you have to watch the connotations with royal names, because all royal names have good and bad connotations.  George the 3rd, in American history, is viewed as a tyrant and, in British history, as an inept, delusional nutcase.  However, William and Kate are probably thinking more of their new son’s great-grandfather, Stutterin’ George, who was played by Colin Firth in the movie and was generally fairly well liked.  Also, of course, at St. George the dragon killer, who is kind of a big deal in England.

Britain has also produced such luminaries in the arts as George Orwell, who wrote 1984 and Animal Farm,  and George Harrison of the Beatles.  George Bernard Shaw was Irish, but lived most of his adult life in England.

In America, of course, we’ve had some pretty nasty Georges recently.  White racist hero George Zimmerman and worst American president ever George W. Bush spring to mind.  It’s O.K.  It’s not like they’re naming the kid Adolf.

On the positive side, we’ve had George Washington, George Washington Carver, George Jones, George Carlin, George Burns (may the new royal baby live so long),  George Lucas (may the force always be with him) and George Takei.  Oh my.

To some, it might seem an old fashioned name (in the 1700s, it was among the most common boys’ names.  Not so much lately.)  Still, you don’t get much more modern than George Jetson.    Other fictional  George’s include two of my childhood favorites, George of the Jungle and Curious George.

So, in the end,  there  are more positive connotations than negative ones.  Not terribly imaginative, but it’s a good name.  Kate and Will probably don’t care, but I approve of their choice.