In Ancient Egypt, Pharaohs took a number of names—the praenomen being the most commonly used, on occasion in conjunction with their personal name.
Amda Seyon took the throne name Gebre Mesqel, "slave of the cross"; Tewodros I was Walda Ambasa, "son of the lion"; Sarwe Iyasus was Mehreka Nañ "distributor of your [the Lord's] mercy"; etc.
Tafari Makonnen, the last sovereign Emperor of Ethiopia, took as his throne name Haile Selassie, meaning "Power of the Trinity".
Firstly, seeing as how most states are organised in such a way as to mean that all of the legitimate descendants of the first man or woman to arrive at the site of any given community are considered its dynastic heirs, their thrones are usually rotated amongst almost endless pools of contending cousins who all share the names of the founders of their houses as primary surnames.
Beyond that which is described above, regnal names also serve in Nigeria and indeed in much of Africa as chronological markers in much the same way that those of Europe do (e.g. the Victorian era).
It is for this reason that when new monarchs are enthroned, the uniqueness of their names is usually considered to be a matter of considerable importance (even when it is caused by nothing more than the adding of ordinals to them or the allowing of more than a generation to pass before their subsequent usage).
An example of this can be found in the kingdom of Benin, where the throne name of Erediauwa I became the surname of all of his immediate family in the Eweka royal house of the state, thus nominally tying them and their descendants to the era of his reign.
Monarchs could adopt or be honored with regnal names (尊號; zūn hào) during their reign or after they had abdicated.
Since the Shang dynasty, Chinese sovereigns could be honored with temple names (廟號; miào hào) after their death, for the purpose of ancestor worship.
Temple names consisted of two or three Chinese characters, with the last word being either zǔ (祖; "progenitor") or zōng (宗; "ancestor").
Since the Zhou dynasty, Chinese monarchs were frequently accorded posthumous names (謚號; shì hào) after their death.
Posthumous names were adjectives originally intended to determine the achievements and moral values, or the lack thereof, of one's life.
Since 140 BC, during the reign of the Emperor Wu of Han, Chinese sovereigns often proclaimed era names (年號; nián hào) for the purpose of identifying and numbering years.
[3][5][6] The following table provides examples from China, Japan, Korea and Vietnam to illustrate the differences between monarchical titles in the Sinosphere.
During the Middle Ages, when the House of Árpád disappeared in 1301, two of the monarchs who claimed the throne and were crowned chose a different name.
On the other hand, Wenceslaus III of Bohemia signed his royal documents in Hungary as Ladislas, this being a very traditional name in the Kingdom.
Later during the first half of the 14th century, Charles I of Hungary signed as "Carolus rex", but in fact his birth name was the Italian Caroberto.
When the heir apparent, Henry, died, the prince's name was changed to Sancho, one with a more established royal tradition in the other Iberian monarchies (Navarre, Castile and Aragon).
[9]: 220 Upon the 1952 accession of Elizabeth II, the title Elizabeth II caused controversy in Scotland as there had never been a Scottish Elizabeth I. Winston Churchill suggested that British sovereigns would use either the Scottish or the English number, whichever was higher; this convention fit the pattern of prior reigns since the Acts of Union 1707, all subsequent monarchs either having higher regnal numbers in England (namely William IV, Edward VII, and Edward VIII) or had names not used before the Union (George and Victoria).
A legal case, MacCormick v. Lord Advocate (1953 SC 396), contested the right of the Queen to title herself Elizabeth II in Scotland, arguing that to do so would be a breach of the Act of Union.
The case, however, was dismissed on the grounds that the pursuers had no title to sue the Crown, and also that the numbering of monarchs was part of the royal prerogative, and thus not governed by the Act of Union.
They have been based on immediate predecessors, mentors, political similarity, or even after family members—as was the case with Pope John XXIII.
Often the new pontiff's choice of name upon being elected to the papacy is seen as a signal to the world of whom the new pope will emulate or what policies he will seek to enact.
Such is the case with Benedict XVI who, in fact, explained the reasons for his choice of name during his first General Audience in St. Peter's Square, on 27 April 2005.