2734: Regnal Names Jun 15, 2024

Around Europe, there is a tradition of monarchs changing their names when ascending the throne, known as regnal names. This practice is certainly on the decline among European royalty, but is still in practice in Papal names, including the modern Catholic Pope Francis, born Jorge Mario, and no pope has kept his birth name since the 16th century. This practice began with Pope John II, born Mercurius, and he didn’t want to be named for a Roman, pagan, deity as pope, though this did happen with all six popes, Martin (including Martinus and Marinus). 

In regnal names, though now less common among European royalty in the last century, it was never only a European practice, being seen across Africa, East Asia, and the ancient Near East. The reasons vary, including cultures of naming taboos, implied association or dissociation with previous rulers, or simply to mark the beginning of a reign, this practice has been uniquely adopted all over the world.