Fame/Flynet

In anticipation of Will and Kate’s expected July delivery, many sources are reporting that bookmakers in England are accepting bets on the royal baby name. Name wagers are coming in from around the world and include longshots like Hashtag and Psy (and even North). Oddsmakers began the custom of novelty bets back when Prince Charles and Princess Diana wed, and eventually paid out big when bettors correctly guessed that the firstborn son would be named William.

The future monarch’s weight, hair color, sex and even method of delivery are being bet on, but the biggest bets are on the little one’s name. According to the WSJ most bettors seem to expect that the child will be a girl and Alexandra is still the most heavily favored name at 6-4 odds. Alexandra is the current Queen’s middle name and is in use by another royal, Princess Alexandra of Kent. The second most popular bet is a tie between the historically queenly choice of Victoria and Charlotte. Charlotte has both royal and Middleton connections (it’s aunt-to-be Pippa’s middle name). Elizabeth (8-1) and Diana (10-1) round out the top 5 picks for girls. On the boys’ side James is the most popular pick at 6-1 odds, with George (10-1), Phillip and Alexander (both 20-1) and Richard (25-1) making up the five favorites.

For those not betting, a recent poll by Vertbaudet, a British baby store, showed that almost half of their customers  think the baby will be named Alexandra (44%) if it’s a girl or that they’ll have a little prince called James (48%).

According to that poll, if the baby is a girl the second and third most popular guesses were Victoria (23%) and Diana (18%). And if the baby is a boy the British public’s second and third favorite choices were George and Phillip. Back when Kate’s pregnancy was first announced we came up some of our predictions, and yes, Alexandra was number one but we had the not so popular Arthur and George as frontrunners for a prince.

What would you wager on for the royal baby name? Do you agree with the polls?  

--H.A.