The History and Origins of the Names of Prince Jacques and Princess Gabriella of Monaco

Being the monarchist that I am, I thought I would do a post about the latest additions to the Princely Family of Monaco; Prince Jacques, Marquis of Baux and his sister, Princess Gabriella, Countess of  Carladès. 

Gabriella Thérèse Marie

The actual French version of Gabriella is Gabrielle. French is one of the major languages spoken in Monaco (Monégasque, Italian and Occitan are also spoken), therefore in my opinion, it would've made much more sense to use Gabrielle instead. However, Charlene's family, the Wittstocks, are English speaking as they are from South Africa, so perhaps Gabriella was used in an international way. Gabriella is of Italian origins, and means "strong man of God" or "messenger of God". 

Thérèse is a variant of Teresa and in my opinion, fits in wonderfully with Monaco and the French language. It's unclear of where Teresa is derived from, though it's been guessed from the Greek language, where it derives from "θερίζω", meaning "harvest".

Marie is a traditional name in the French speaking world (with Marie Antoinette being amongst the famous namesakes), much like it's English counterpart, Mary, or it's Latino counterpart, Maria (María). It has origins from the Hebrew, Greek and Latin languages; where it can have multiple meanings of either "wished-for child", "beloved", "love", "star of the sea", or "bitter". It is very regal and works well with the little Princess's other names. 

Jacques Honoré Rainier

Jacques is the French variant of the more English James, which itself derives from the Hebrew Jacob. In the French language, it means "supplanter", and is the name of a former French President, Jacques Chirac. It's female counterpart, Jacqueline, has been worn by Jacqueline Kennedy, First Lady of the United States (who was more commonly known as "Jackie"). It often gets mistaken for being the French variant of Jack (which is the name of Princess Grace's father Jack Kelly, who would be the great-grandfather of the twins as their grandmother's father) as they share similar sounds, though Jack is actually originally a nickname for John, but is very popular as a standalone name in Britain at the moment. Jacques has also been used in the Princely Family of Monaco before, on Prince Jacques I of Monaco, who reigned from 1731-1733. 

Honoré is originally a French family name from Medieval times, which itself has a beautiful meaning of "honoured". So far, five Princes of Monaco have worn this name. 

Rainier is the name of Prince Jacques's grandfather, Prince Rainier III of Monaco, husband of Princess Grace. It is a French form of Rainer, which itself derives from the more German Reginar, which was made up of "ragin", and "heri", which mean "advice"  and "army" respectively.