# Was "Edward" an unlucky name for English monarchs?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-edward-an-unlucky-name-for-english-monarchs/506501
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [August 15, 2009, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-edward-an-unlucky-name-for-english-monarchs/506501 "2009-08-15T07:19:21Z")
**Posts on this page:** 13
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)
#### Post date: [August 16, 2009, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-edward-an-unlucky-name-for-english-monarchs/506501/21 "2009-08-16T01:29:15Z")
I hope he does; George is a great name. I named my little cat George after King George V, because he looked kind of like a cat with those whiskers of his.
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### Author:  [@Mississippienne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mississippienne)
#### Post date: [August 16, 2009, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-edward-an-unlucky-name-for-english-monarchs/506501/22 "2009-08-16T02:42:57Z")
This list has a lot of historically inaccuracies. For one thing, it only lists the kings post-Conquest named Edward, and there were several Anglo-Saxon kings with that name.
> [@Argent\_Towers](#):
>
> Edward I - he was a very powerful and successful ruler, but…
No mention of his failed Crusade? His beloved first wife’s death? The premature deaths of most of his children?
> [@Argent\_Towers](#):
>
> Edward II - homosexual, widely despised, killed by having a red hot poker shoved up his anus
First of all, the hot poker story is not contemporary; we don’t know exactly how Edward was killed. As for his sexuality, he was probably at least functionally bisexual, not homosexual. He fathered several children with his queen, plus one illegitimate son. His most devoted relationships do seem to have been with men.
> [@Argent\_Towers](#):
>
> Edward III - all of his sons died before they could become king; his grandson took over the throne.
As has been mentioned, he did NOT outlive all his sons. He merely outlived his heir, and was succeeded by a grandson, which was common enough for medieval monarchies.
> [@Argent\_Towers](#):
>
> Edward VII - basically a successful and popular king
No mention of the death of his eldest son and heir?
> [@Argent\_Towers](#):
>
> Edward VIII - had an affair with an American divorcee and was friends with Adolf Hitler; created a gigantic scandal and abdicated in utter disgrace
To be fair, he married the American divorcee and seemed happy enough to abdicate.
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### Author:  [@Mississippienne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mississippienne)
#### Post date: [August 16, 2009, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-edward-an-unlucky-name-for-english-monarchs/506501/23 "2009-08-16T03:05:10Z")
> [@eleanorigby](#):
>
> The most unlucky king was John–he made the name so hated, that there has never been another one and won’t be for some time…
I would like to address this myth – yes, mostly because John is my favorite Plantagenet king – but there is no truth to the myth that ‘John was such a terrible king that the name was blacklisted forevermore’. There were numerous opportunities for England to get a John II, but due to quirks of fate, it simply didn’t happen. There is no reason to believe that his descendants were carefully avoiding the name.
His grandson Edward I named his eldest son (and heir) John. The boy died young, as did many of Edward I’s children, but Edward couldn’t have known that when he had his son christened John.
Edward II’s second-born legitimate son was John of Eltham.
Edward III’s third surviving son was John of Gaunt. John of Gaunt in turn had several sons named John.
Henry IV’s third son was John of Bedford.
The name wasn’t terribly popular in the Yorkist branch, and by the time the Tudors came to power the names Henry and Edward dominated over others. Likewise, the Hannoverians were entranced with endless Georges. This is all quite natural, as many names gain popularity with the royal families and then fade over the years.
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### Author:  [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)
#### Post date: [August 16, 2009, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-edward-an-unlucky-name-for-english-monarchs/506501/24 "2009-08-16T03:12:12Z")
More recently, George V’s youngest son was [Prince John](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_John_of_the_United_Kingdom). He died young, of an epileptic fit.
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### Author:  [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)
#### Post date: [August 16, 2009, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-edward-an-unlucky-name-for-english-monarchs/506501/25 "2009-08-16T03:50:30Z")
Well, there’s still not a John and won’t be in the near future. IOW, the jury (for me) is still out. :dubious:
And he was a terrible king, but that’s another thread… 🙂
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### Author:  [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)
#### Post date: [August 16, 2009, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-edward-an-unlucky-name-for-english-monarchs/506501/26 "2009-08-16T05:53:19Z")
> [@eleanorigby](#):
>
> And he was a terrible king, but that’s another thread… 🙂
Bah! 😉
He’s not my own favorite and had flaws aplenty, but he probably came within a hair of becoming the dominant monarch in Europe ( Bouvines was one of the 12th centuries most decisive battles in that respect ). All in all he was pretty capable, he was just up against very sharp opposition in Philip Augustus, who had both a superior legal position and greater material resources.
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### Author:  [@Oy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oy)
#### Post date: [August 16, 2009, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-edward-an-unlucky-name-for-english-monarchs/506501/27 "2009-08-16T13:08:00Z")
John wasn’t a bad king for the common man, but his nobility hated him with a passion, and for good reason. He was, although capable of being charming, a very unpleasant man.
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### Author:  [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)
#### Post date: [August 16, 2009, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-edward-an-unlucky-name-for-english-monarchs/506501/28 "2009-08-16T17:31:50Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#):
>
> ( Bouvines was one of the 12th centuries most decisive battles in that respect ).
Heh. That should be _13th_ century ( 1214 ). I blame that dastardly Richard III ;).
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### Author:  [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)
#### Post date: [August 17, 2009, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-edward-an-unlucky-name-for-english-monarchs/506501/29 "2009-08-17T03:29:51Z")
[quote=“scifisam2009, post:18, topic:506501”]
Even the last King George was actually Albert by first name and the name he was always known by.
/QUOTE]
What’s _really_ funny there is that his younger brother, the Duke of Kent’s first name WAS George, and that’s what HE was called! 😛
Likewise, Edward VIII was known as David, by his family and Friends.
Queen Victoria’s full name was Alexandrina Victoria, and as a child she was known as “Drina.” Edward VII, her son, was Albert Edward, and everyone called him “Bertie”. (She wanted him to reign as Albert Edward I, after his father, but he chose not to)
**Argent Towers** : the offspring of the heir takes precedence over the younger siblings of the heir. For example, even though Queen Victoria had several uncles, (still living) they were all younger than her father, so she was next in line. (Even being female, she was still higher on the list of succession).
So Edward IV’s grandson outranked his uncles, that’s all.
I also would not consider the Duke of Windsor “friends” with Hitler. He met with him, yes. But they weren’t exactly what I’d call buddies.
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### Author:  [@torie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/torie)
#### Post date: [August 17, 2009, 8:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-edward-an-unlucky-name-for-english-monarchs/506501/30 "2009-08-17T08:25:19Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#):
>
> The OP doesn’t mention Edward the Martyr (even his nickname is a clue – he was assassinated at age 16, and some accounts indicate his own mother was behind it).
His STEP-mother, Ælfthryth, was possibly behind it. Nobody knows who Edward’s mother was. Ælfthryth wanted HER son by Edgar, Ethelred The Unready to be king. In fact, when Edgar died, Ethelred was the legal heir, but for reasons we don’t fully understand, Edward was chosen by the council of bishops to actually succeed.
But then he was assassinated and Æthelred became king anyway.
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### Author:  [@torie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/torie)
#### Post date: [August 17, 2009, 8:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-edward-an-unlucky-name-for-english-monarchs/506501/31 "2009-08-17T08:35:34Z")
> [@](#):
>
> So Edward III’s grandson outranked his uncles, that’s all.
Also, Edward III’s other son’s bloodlines were very successful. The Yorks, descended from Edmund Of Langley, were very powerful and sat on the throne periodically. John of Gaunt’s children were also powerful and lasting. Henry IV and V were John’s son and grandson, and responsible for some great gains for Medieval England. Furthermore, every single English Monarch since 1485 have descended from John of Gaunt and his third wife, Katherine Swynford. One of their descendants, Henry VII, married one of Edmund Of Langley’s descendants, Elizabeth of York, so both bloodlines are represented to this day. Not so unlucky.
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### Author:  [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)
#### Post date: [August 17, 2009, 10:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-edward-an-unlucky-name-for-english-monarchs/506501/32 "2009-08-17T10:25:28Z")
> [@Quartz](#):
>
> I was reading up on William IV and found that he forcibly prorogued Parliament. Is it too much to hope that HMQ would do the same? 🙂
>
> And yes, Charles has a particularly bad reputation. And I’m **not** looking forward to Prince Charles becoming King; I don’t think he’s got the right temperament. I’m hoping that he will be sufficiently old by the time he succeeds that he will pass the Crown directly to the next generation.
Precious little hope of that unless he is completely non-functional, and even then, he’d still be King while William was Prince Regent.
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### Author:  [@torie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/torie)
#### Post date: [August 17, 2009, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-edward-an-unlucky-name-for-english-monarchs/506501/33 "2009-08-17T22:08:02Z")
> [@Malacandra](#):
>
> Precious little hope of that unless he is completely non-functional, and even then, he’d still be King while William was Prince Regent.
He can’t just abdicate in favor of his son?
For what it’s worth, I think Charles will make a fine king. I’m asking out of curiosity.
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