Betting On The Royal Baby Name

With Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge, due to give birth any day now, the world is waiting expectantly for the arrival of the next in line to the Throne and bookmakers are doing a roaring trade when it comes to bets on the baby’s name.

The proof is in the money and bookies are smiling all the way to the bank as wagers surpass that of the Royal Wedding which was previously the biggest market for novelty bets.

Hot favourite is Alexandra at 4/1 if it’s a girl with Kai, for a boy, languishing at the bottom of the name heap at 1000/1. Of Top 10 names at Paddy Power Bookmakers, eight of them are for girls with only James (6/1) and George (8/1) representing the boys.

Diana is at 9/1 and though it would no doubt be a lovely gesture to name a girl after Prince William’s late mother, it’s also highly unlikely. Past monarch names feature strongly with Victoria, Mary, Charles and Richard all getting a mention and even Elizabeth is a contender.

Of course there’s also Wallis at 250/1, presumably after Wallis Simpson but the chances of naming the future Queen or King after a woman who nearly brought down the monarchy is laughable.

Speculation is also rife as to the date the baby will be born and as it’s more likely to be born in mid-July, he or she could possibly share a birthday with Camilla (July 17th), Duchess of Cornwall.

Though it’s a sizeable market, with Paddy Power reporting that they had taken 10,000 bets and expected takings to be a “good 30 percent up” on the wedding with a turnover of £300,000 and William Hill claiming it had taken £50,000 so far and also believed turnover would exceed that for the wedding, it’s no Grand National.

The Grand National can make a bookmaker £50m in a single day so though the bets on the baby being a boy or a girl, it’s name, hair colour and even the Queen abdicating are all strong and gaining momentum, ultimately it’s a bit of fun as the chances of them calling the baby ‘Fergie’ are slim to none not to mind 500/1!