Baby’s got bets.
Within 24 hours of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge announcing that they’re expecting their third child next spring, UK bookies reported a run on the next royal baby’s name.
The odds look in favor of the blue-blooded bundle of joy being a little princess, considering the most popular potential moniker across the board is Alice, according to Oddschecker.com. Most betting sites favored Alice at 10 to 1 odds, with BoyleSports putting both Alice and Victoria at 8 to 1 each and Ladbrokes putting Alice at 7 to 1.
Bookies told Moneyish that it’s still early to tabulate how much money could be at stake, but when the royals picked Charlotte in 2015, bookmakers had to pay out about $1.5 million to gamblers who correctly guessed the name. There was some speculation that someone within the royal family had leaked it, as a matter of fact, considering wagers for Charlotte jumped in the eight to 10 days before she was born.
Victoria was also gaining ground as a name for Prince George and Princess Charlotte’s new sibling on Tuesday, coming in between 10 to 1 or 12 to 1 across most of the other UK gambling sites, per Oddschecker’s stats.
Both names have got royal precedent. Victoria would honor the beloved (and long reigning) Queen Victoria, who ruled from 1837 to 1876. And Alice also has history with the royal hierarchy, considering Queen Victoria’s second daughter was graced with the name. Alice was also the name of Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester, who was Queen Elizabeth’s aunt.
They were also popular picks during Kate Middleton’s last pregnancy, so it’s not too surprising that Alice and Victoria would top the list again.
“Despite the gender of the third royal baby being unknown at this moment in time, the name betting is favoring girl’s names as Victoria and Alice, which are both in the royal lineage, are the early frontrunners,” BoyleSports spokeswoman Aoife Heffron said in a statement to Moneyish.
Heffron added that “Of the boys names, Arthur and Philip lead the charge at 10 to 1 and 12 to 1 respectively, but having already seen support for Alice, we suspect the third royal baby might just be a little girl.”
Arthur is both Prince Charles and (father) Prince William’s middle name, which makes it a strong contender. Philip is the name of the baby’s grandfather, who just retired from royal life this year at age 96 after almost 70 years of service, which would also be a fitting homage.
Some other popular suggestions include Alexandra or Mary, the Queen’s two middle names, which were also the names of her grandmother Queen Mary and great-grandmother Queen Alexandra, as well as historically royal names such as James, which is the name of Kate’s brother.
Some amusing long shots in the baby name game include Diana at 25 to 1 odds, thanks to the recent 10th anniversary of her 1997 death renewing interest in the legacy of People’s Princess, as well as Donald (as in US President Trump) at 50 to 1 odds, according to Sky Bet, a British gambling company. And a few “Game of Thrones” fans have bet the real-life prince or princess that is promised could be called Daenerys at 500 to 1, or Joffrey at 1000 to 1.