No crown for Kate and William baby names

BabyCenter

Prince William and Kate Middleton may be the most popular people on the planet right now, but their names don't seem to be popular with new parents.

BabyCenter, which puts together an annual list of the top baby names, is already predicting that the names William and Kate will not reach royal stature in 2011.

The name William, often considered old-fashioned, peaked in 2008 but has fallen ever since, and it's off to a slow start this year. The princely moniker is down 66 percent in the first quarter of 2011 compared with the first quarter of 2010.

The name Kate reached the height of its popularity before William, in 2005, and it hasn't maintained the level of admiration worthy of a princess. Kate is down 60 percent in the first quarter of 2011 compared with the first quarter of 2010.

None of this is surprising to BabyCenter Editor in Chief Linda Murray. While 36 percent of BabyCenter moms say they find name inspiration in famous people and characters, Murray says names often decline when they become associated with a specific celebrity, or in this case, with royalty.

"Take Britney, Madonna, Oprah, or Barack, for example," she says. "When parents feel a name is owned by one person, they shy away from it for their own child. This could be part of the story for William and Kate. "

While Murray suspects that we won't see a significant rise in William and Kate as a result of wedding fever, she thinks the world is eagerly waiting to see what the royal couple name their children. "Those will be the names that start a trend," she says.

Kate isn't pregnant yet, but BabyCenter has already created a list of baby name suggestions for the royal couple by plugging William, Will, Kate, and Catherine (Kate's birth name) into BabyCenter's Baby Name Finder.

Diana, Victoria, and Elizabeth are a few suggestions if it's a princess and Beckett, Henry, and Timothy if it's a prince.

See all 20 royal baby name suggestions and find out whether the names Pippa (Kate's sister) and Harry (William's brother) are gaining in popularity.

Photo: iStock/Maddrat