Pope Leo XIV, the first U.S.-born Pope

[1995hoo]

Based on everything I've read, I would not have been surprised if Charles had chosen a different regnal name had he become king earlier in his lifetime. Apparently he gave very serious thought to reigning as George VII, both to honor his grandfather and because the name "Charles" doesn't have the greatest history among British monarchs. But I wouldn't be surprised at all to hear that he chose not to do so in part because he became king so late in life and he was so well-known under his given name. Most popes are not nearly as well-known on a global scale upon their election as Charles was; the obvious exception in recent times was Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI), and given his adherence to tradition I figure there was no chance he would not take a papal name. (The election of Paul VI was before I was born. I understand he was more or less considered a shoo-in for election because he had been one of the favorites during the previous conclave when he was not yet a cardinal, but I have no idea how well-known he was globally. I tend to doubt he was as well-known as Charles, though.)

To some extent, the idea of foregoing a regnal name late in life because everyone knows your existing name strikes me as similar to how some women I know have said they would have changed their names upon getting married except that they were already established professionally under their maiden names. I've known some women who use their married names privately and their maiden names professionally for that particular reason, too. (Many years ago, when I was in first grade I was advanced academically and I spent half the day in the second-grade classroom. Then the following year the second-grade teacher was my regular teacher, although I spent half the day in the third-grade classroom. The second-grade teacher got married between my first- and second-grade years. She took her husband's name and it was certainly weird calling her by a different name for the first couple of weeks.)

On the other hand, of course, Charles's mother, who became monarch at a far younger age, answered the question about what name she wanted to use by saying, "My own, of course."

[WillWeaverRVA]

Pope Leo XIV's sister-in-law is from Chesterfield, VA and went to VCU. It's kind of funny, though, because she posts lots of political conspiracy theories on her Facebook page and less than a year before becoming pope, he was replying with links to Snopes and other fact-checking sites debunking them. That's so relatable.

[1995hoo]

I see Pope Leo has two brothers. I have not read anything about whether either of those brothers has any children. I was interested because my brother would very much like to know whether we now have "Pope Uncle Leo."

[kkt]

On the other hand, of course, Charles's mother, who became monarch at a far younger age, answered the question about what name she wanted to use by saying, "My own, of course."

Yes, there is no queen's name with better associations in England than Elizabeth.  Elizabeth I, of course, also Elizabeth of York who married the heir of the Lancaster clan to settle the Wars of the Roses.

[mgk920]

Assuming a new 'regnal' name also signifies the ending of their previous life and the start of a completely new life.

Didn't Leo grow up on the White Sox side of town?

Mike

[WillWeaverRVA]

Assuming a new 'regnal' name also signifies the ending of their previous life and the start of a completely new life.

Didn't Leo grow up on the White Sox side of town?

Mike

Yes, and he's a White Sox fan. The Chicago Sun-Times posted a picture of him at the 2005 World Series on Twitter last night.

[NWI_Irish96]

Bread and wine about to be replaced with deep dish pizza and malort.

[mgk920]

Bread and wine about to be replaced with deep dish pizza and malort.

Well, they had beer and polkas at mass a couple of decades ago.

Mike

[english si]

According to a quick read, his grandfather George was born Albert but chose a regnal name at his coronation.

Edward VII and George VI chose their regnal names at accession to the throne, not their later coronations.

Both were Albert (and remained being called 'Bertie' by family and friends after becoming king) but Edward VII decided that his dad wouldn't be outdone by there being a King Albert and followed his mother in using his middle name. His grandson followed the precedent that there wouldn't be a King Albert and used his last middle name, .

In modern times, monarchs have mostly been giving heirs royal first names, so the changing of names has become less common.

Victoria was the first British monarch not to use her first name in 1837 - because she hated it and as a way to stamp her new freedom from her overbearing mother dropped it. It's a modern thing to drop the first name and go by another  name, rather than vice versa.

Since then, two of six monarchs used middle names, and there was a lot of speculation about whether a third would (I even found one, US, article from just after he'd become king, wondering why the British media was unanimously calling him King Charles III despite the fact he was supposedly going to become George VII - IIRC, he'd leaked it that he was sticking with his given name in 2019ish (presumably when his mum was diagnosed with cancer), but certainly a minute after the announcement of QE2's death, his office dropped a press release that called him Charles III).

You can argue Edward 'David' was given the name Edward as a future regnal name, and called David as a familiar name. But he's the exception (and an inversion of granddad and bro Berties who were known by their first names and picked a middle name to rule with - being known by a middle name and picking his first name to rule by).

Should also point out that, of the six, the two Georges were younger brothers and didn't expect the throne (one born as George, one not), the two Neds were born as direct heirs to the throne (one born as Edward, one not), Chaz was born to be king, but Elizabeth was (while 3rd in line at birth) not meant to rule.

[english si]

Bread and wine about to be replaced with deep dish pizza and malort.

What would Cardinal Pizzaballa make of that?

[1995hoo]

I notice the Sox host St. Louis from June 17–19. Pope v. Cardinals!

[ET21]

Da Pope, true south sider as well!

May his blessings bring me out of baseball purgatory

[Road Hog]

So I am reading that two different kings put Prince Albert in a can?