Florence Rose Endellion – David Cameron’s baby girl gets a name

David and Samantha Cameron have chosen the name for their new baby girl – Florence Rose Endellion.

We named Florence as the UK’s fastest rising girls name of 2010 last month, and it seems as though David Cameron is following the trend. In the 2008 official rankings (the latest currently available), Florence was ranked 94th in the UK – we expect it to enter the top 20 in time.

The name Florence itself means “blossoming; flourishing”. It actually originates from a masculine Latin name, Florentius. What do you think – will David Cameron’s choice improve or reduce the popularity of this name? When Obama came into office, the popularity of one of his children’s names – Malia – increased massively. While Cameron doesn’t have quite the adoration that Obama enjoyed in his early days in office, it could still prove a shot in the arm for Florence’s popularity.

Rose is a common middle name for girls, especially in recent years, but ranks just outside the top 100 as a first name. I bet you know a baby girl with the middle name “Rose”!

Endellion is a village in North Cornwall, and is named after St. Endelienta who converted locals to Christianity and established the parish in the fifth century BC.

My name is Florence and I wasn’t much please when I found out.

My parents picked my name because it WASN’T popular, so I’m not sure whether I like this new development

I wonder if the Camerons have been watching Rosamunde Pilcher’s “Four Seasons” on Channel 5 over the last few weeks? It was set in Edellion and the main part’s name was Florence. It seems quite a coincidence doesn’t it?

Florence A: It’s funny how name popularity changes! Back in at the start of the 20th Century, Florence and Rose were both in the top 30 girls names in the UK. Florence, in fact, was ranked 2nd!

Their popularities sloped away, and by the 1950s, they were both out of the top 100. In the past two years, both names are showing a resurgence – Rose moreso as a middle name.

Check out this link for a visualisation of the trends: http://www.babynames.co.uk/popular-baby-names#name1=Florence&name2=Rose

Joan: That’s really interesting! I wasn’t aware of this programme, and agree it seems too much of a coincidence. Can you provide me a link with more information? Would be really cool to find out whether the Cams actually named their child after a TV show

The Camerons named their new daughter Endellion as they were staying in the parish of St Endellion (in Cornwall) when she was born. As for Florence, it’s clearly on the up because of Florence and the Machine (shame too because I love it and was looking for something NOT popular for my bump). I somehow doubt they’d copy a TV show…. A bit posh for that, don’t you think!

I was annoyed when David and Samantha Cameron called their daughter Florence Rose. Our baby daughter was born three months before (May) and we named her as Florence Violet, the last thing we need is our daughter’s name to be common thanks to them. I wish they called their daughter some other name.

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