When I heard that the newly-born baby of Prince William and Lady Kate Middleton was to be called George, I wasn’t sure if I should put pen to paper and express my first reflections on the subject.

After all, I did grow up in Victoria, in an environment that cherishes the cult of St George, the eastern martyr saint from present-day Lod in Palestine, and I am quite an enthusiast for the British monarchy!

Hearing of the new name for the latest addition to the Windsor royal family, what first comes to mind is what might have been the reason that made the royal couple decide in favour of it.

The last royal child to be baptised with the name of George was the late Duke of Kent. Prince George Edward Alexander Edmund, who was born on December 20, 1902, was the fourth son and fifth child of King George V and Mary of Teck.

The royal prince had died in a military air crash in 1942 only after having married Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark who was his second cousin.

His second eldest brother, known to the family as Prince Albert, chose the name George as his official name and was crowned King George VI in Westminster Abbey on Mary 1, 1937 after the abdication crisis that occurred following the death of his father, King George V.

By calling their first child and the next-in-line to the throne (after Prince William) George Alexander Louis, the Duke and the Duchess of Cambridge have certainly opted for continuity if opted is a verb that can be applied within the narrow circles of royalty.

Prince William may have married a commoner but he certainly did not choose ‘common’ names for one of the future kings of England. The three names given to the child carry a load of significance.

Contemporary Britain is struggling to remain faithful to its historic and ancient roots. London is no longer an English city and England has become home for what probably is the most multicultural society in the western world. There have lately been various attempts by councils and institutions, such as the Royal Society of St George, to promote April 23 as a national holiday that represents all that is quintessentially English.

Within the subconscious mindset of the young Windsor generation there may be hints of this reality that is now stronger than ever before.

By calling their new child George, the much-admired royal couple have struck a chord: they have shown that if there is to be a colourful future for the 1,000-old English monarchy this has to be shown in the choice of the most basic of things – royal names.

What’s in a name, may state the old adage. My answer would simply be: everything. The boy’s name proves the saying wrong.

Since the unity of the crowns, newly-created Britain has had six kings called George.

The first two were not English at all but who would doubt the Englishness of ‘mad’ King George, father of more than a dozen children and grandfather of Queen Victoria who, though more German than English in blood, reigned over his kingdom for one of the longest periods in history and identified himself with the new farming standards of his beloved nation?

The last George to sit on the throne was the present queen’s father who passed away quietly in his sleep in February 1952 to make space for a new Elizabethan age that will be such a hard act to follow.

With the newly-born child called George, a strong sense of continuity has been forged.

The new baby reminds us of the king of the George Cross, a king who, despite his fragilities, showed such courage in the face of adversity and is now immortalised in the cinematic world through the film The King’s Speech.

Therefore, George is a name that brings back feelings of nostalgia within the royal family itself and connects the reign of the present queen, who was so close to her father who used to refer to the family as ‘us four’, with the newly-born child whose reign will take a few more decades to begin.

George is a name that will represent future hopes and a monarchy in touch with present demands

George is no longer a Hanoverian name bonded with what once was a new page in the history of the British royal family (after the Stuarts) but is now a name that will represent future hopes and a monarchy in touch with present demands.

One cannot avoid commenting about the other two names Alexander and Louis.

Alexander is a name that recalls the memory of Queen Consort Alexandra, wife of King Edward VII and Princess of Denmark. She died in 1925 and was a very popular queen consort.

Louis was the name of the Earl Mountbatten of Burma, the Duke of Edinburgh’s maternal uncle who had made it a point that he would try to be an influential figure within the royal family after the marriage of his nephew, Prince Philip, to the future queen, Elizabeth II.

The names are a certificate of continuity and, despite their lack of originality, they seem to have been received well by the media.

Going back to one’s roots is never a bad idea. In the fast changing world we are living in, it might not be wrong to have a look at our own family trees and get ideas from within its detailed branches when it comes to give a name to a newly-born baby.

Rather than choosing weird names one may just as well follow on William and Kate’s example and be sure to get a new baby’s name right just from the very beginning.