Regnal name

Regnal is the adjective from reign. Although the '-g-' in the noun reign is not pronounced, that in regnal is - the '-e-' is like that in 'get', and the stress is on the first syllable (IPA: /'rɛg nəl/). Its two moct common uses are in historical terms:

• regnal dates are the dates during which a ruler was in power, as opposed to the dates of the person's birth and death.
• a regnal name is one taken when the ruler comes to power. A regnal name is often different from the forename used up to that point. It has been conventional for many years, for example, for a Pope on being elected to choose the name by which he will be known. Some British monarchs have chosen a different name on accession; Edward VII was named after his father Prince Albert. On the death of his mother, Queen Victoria, he announce that he would reign by his second name Edward, "explaining in an elegant impromptu speech to the privy council that the name Albert could be associated with no one but his father" (ODNB).