# Prince Andrew and royal last names **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [July 8, 2013, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prince-andrew-and-royal-last-names/662948 "2013-07-08T17:01:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Flyer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/flyer/32/7298_2.png) [@Flyer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flyer)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2013, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prince-andrew-and-royal-last-names/662948/1 "2013-07-08T17:01:03Z")
Column– > **[What did Prince Andrew’s superiors in the Royal Navy call him?](https://www.straightdope.com/21342055/what-did-prince-andrew-s-superiors-in-the-royal-navy-call-him)** Prince Andrew has become the first British royal to join Twitter. His account will be a mixture of tweets from him and his staff. But here’s the interesting part–tweets from him will bear the initials “AY”–“A” presumably stands for Andrew. The “Y” must stand for York; I can’t think of anything else it could mean. Which must mean that he’s using York as sort of an unofficial last name. [http://www.people.com/people/package/article/0,,20395222\_20715162,00.html](http://www.people.com/people/package/article/0,,20395222_20715162,00.html) ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2013, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prince-andrew-and-royal-last-names/662948/2 "2013-07-08T18:26:38Z")
Easier than signing off “PAoY” or “APoY”. ---
**Author:** ![That\_Don\_Guy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/that_don_guy/32/538_2.png) [@That\_Don\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/That_Don_Guy)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2013, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prince-andrew-and-royal-last-names/662948/3 "2013-07-08T19:55:57Z")
> [@Flyer](#): > > Column– > [What did Prince Andrew’s superiors in the Royal Navy call him? - The Straight Dope](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/884/what-did-prince-andrew-39-s-superiors-in-the-royal-navy-call-him) > > Prince Andrew has become the first British royal to join Twitter. His account will be a mixture of tweets from him and his staff. But here’s the interesting part–tweets from him will bear the initials “AY”–“A” presumably stands for Andrew. The “Y” must stand for York; I can’t think of anything else it could mean. Which must mean that he’s using York as sort of an unofficial last name. Not unheard of: isn’t Prince Harry’s military name “Harry Wales”? (Actually, I used to be a stickler for calling him “Prince _Henry_”, but once The Times and the BBC made the switch, I figured that it was about as close to an “official endorsement” of the name as we could get, and yes, I know that The Times is owned by Rupert Murdoch.) ---
**Author:** ![John\_W.Kennedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_w.kennedy/32/1031_2.png) [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2013, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prince-andrew-and-royal-last-names/662948/4 "2013-07-08T20:27:40Z")
Noblemen in general use their titles as last names, although, unlike the royal family, they have undisputed last names, too. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2013, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prince-andrew-and-royal-last-names/662948/5 "2013-07-09T17:28:32Z")
An earlier related thread: [What did Prince Andrew's superiors in the Royal Navy call him? - Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports - Straight Dope Message Board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=679169) ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2013, 11:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prince-andrew-and-royal-last-names/662948/6 "2013-07-13T11:03:13Z")
> [@John\_W.Kennedy](#): > > Noblemen in general use their titles as last names, although, unlike the royal family, they have undisputed last names, too. And the British upper classes use their last names as given names. At least they did when I was in school. According to anecdote (I can’t find a reference) as a young man Edward VII was heard asking his brother 'York, have you seen the bloody monarch?" ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2013, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prince-andrew-and-royal-last-names/662948/7 "2013-07-13T11:18:31Z")
> [@Melbourne](#): > > According to anecdote (I can’t find a reference) as a young man Edward VII was heard asking his brother 'York, have you seen the bloody monarch?" I think you mean Edward VIII, whose younger brother was Duke of York (and later King George VI). Edward VII’s brothers were Prince Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, and also Duke of Edinburgh; Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn; and Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany.