The names of Boris Johnson’s children. Losing the classical touch?
The lives of Boris Johnson’s children are of no public interest, unless they themselves decide to make it so, but their names as decided, one hopes between Johnson and his partner of the moment, have some passing note.
Sonia Purnell’s biography of Johnson, Just Boris, reports that he wanted to call one of his children with his ex-wife Marina Wheeler, Lettice. It is as Laeticia a Latin name used in Medieval English, meaning joy, the modern translation of which is either Lettice or perhaps Letitia*. Ms Wheeler’s preference won-out and the baby was named Lara.
Other children with Marina Wheeler were called Milo, Cassia Peaches and Theodore Apollo.
He also had a child with Helen Macintyre in 2009 called Stephanie. This was revealed by Stanley Johnson in 2020.
His first baby with Carrie Symonds has been called Wilfred, Old English, which seems like a modest step forward from the Latin. Wilfrid (634-709) was an Anglo-Saxon Saint and Bishop of York. The name fell into disuse but was revived from the nineteenth century on having nowadays perhaps an association with Victoriana.
Carrie has now given birth to a second baby- a girl. It remains to be seen if the progress in history continues and a name associated with the twentieth century is chosen. In the event both Margaret and Allegra were swerved and the baby was called Romy Iris Charlotte, its seems relatively restrained by Johnsonian standards.
These of course are the seven children whose names are in the public domain
*thanks to Peter Lucas for clarification here
I suppose one link with the 20th century was the German born star of the silver screen, Romy Schneider. It is, I gather, a German diminutive of Rosemary