Kate Middleton Reveals The Secret To Picking Names For Her Three Children

One of the first things a new parent is tasked with is choosing a name for their baby. It sounds simple, probably because all parents do it, and we all have a name. But making that decision is never all that easy — in no small part because of all the outside pressure from family and friends to choose the right name. Now what if your mother-in-law was the Queen? Recently Kate Middleton, Princess of Wales — who shares three kids with William, Prince of Wales — spoke about choosing the names for her three kids and how she rose above the pressure.

According to People, Kate recently paid a surprise visit to the maternity unit of the Royal Surrey County Hospital. She met with hospital personnel and new parents as part of her ongoing work with the Royal Foundation Center for Early Childhood.

While visiting new parents, Kate spoke about the pressure on new parents to choose a name for their baby. She drew from her own experience naming her kids, Prince George, 9, Princess Charlotte, 7, and 4-year-old Prince Louis.

"She just really talked about her own children, including how they chose their names," Amy Stubbs, deputy director of midwifery, explained, per People. "A lot of the new mums and dads are thinking about how to choose names for their babies, and they spoke with her about how Kate and William made their choice."

Kate's secret to picking names for her three kids sounds simple. "She said they were their favorite names," Amy recalled. But a lot is riding on the names chosen for the royal kids.

"Obviously, the world was waiting for them to name their children," Amy recalled Kate saying, adding that choosing the right names "felt like quite a big pressure!"

We've all felt pressure to make everyone happy with our baby name choices. The pressure Kate must have felt to an astronomical level, given she was naming the heirs to the British throne. That makes Kate's secret to choosing a baby name the perfect route. The best thing we can do is go with our gut, tune out the noise, and let go of that pressure.

This is advice that worked out well for Kate. As a result of following her own advice, each of her kids' names leaves very little to critique. For example, Kate's oldest kid, George, has a classic royal baby name that dates to the 1800s and has strong connections to the royal family tree. Then there's Charlotte, a popular girl name that has ranked in the top 10 baby girl names since 2014. And Louis, whose name is classically old-fashioned and also tied tightly to royal history. Sure, they went with pretty conservative names, but according to Kate these are names she just liked — and at the end of the day that’s what matters most.