Two Surprising Names Are The New Frontrunners For Meghan Markle's Baby

With only a few days (if that) to go before Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's first baby arrives, two surprising names have emerged as the new frontrunners for the royals' moniker of choice. Whenever a new royal baby is on the way in the U.K., professional oddsmakers take bets on what they name will be. While Elizabeth and Diana have been topping the list for months, Grace has now topped the list with 6-1 odds.

Ladsbrokes, the most well-known oddsmakers, has another unexpected name quickly gaining popularity. Allegra leaped from from 100-1 to 20-1 odds. This jump now makes it the sixth most favored name for Baby Sussex. “It's probably the most bizarre eleventh hour move we could've seen, but the money is coming in thick and fast for Allegra. We wouldn't be surprised to see the name right up there with the frontrunners by the time the birth gets announced,” a spokesperson for Ladsbrokes explained. “We’re scratching our heads as to why we’ve seen so much interest in Allegra, but . . . it’s been by far the most popular pick of the month with punters.”

It may seem silly to believe that professional oddsmakers (who don't even know the royal family) have the ability to accurately predict royal baby names, however, they actually have a proven track record of doing just that. Oddsmakers correctly predicted that Prince William and Kate Middleton would name their second child Charlotte. For many royal-watchers, this was a surprising choice because Princess Charlotte is the child of the heir to the throne and she was not given an ancestral family name.

According to Time, Charlotte was the odds-on favorite for several days before the little princess was born. After it was announced her name was Charlotte Elizabeth Diana, bookmakers had to hand over an estimated 1 million pounds ($1.5 million) to those who successfully put money on that name. So, can this just be a coincidence? Not likely. “It sets off alarm bells that maybe there has been information leaked from the palace, and so the public followed the money,” Nicola McGeady, a spokesperson for the bookmaker Coral, explained. Essentially, when a name jumps in popularity right before the birth of a royal baby, it's extremely likely that's the Royals first choice.

Not only does this mean Grace and Allegra really might be Meghan and Harry's top choices, it also hints that the royals are expecting a baby girl. Rumors swirled that Meghan told her friends she was expecting a boy, however, she and Harry opted not to find out the gender until their baby is born.

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