Eli5: Why monarchs have numbers in their names to keep them distinct, why can’t they have a different name?

Question

like why king xyz 2 and not some other name
?

In: 72

Answer 1

Often they do have informal names that keep them distinct. Here’s a long list of the nicknames given to French kings:

[https://www.theawl.com/2012/07/nicknames-for-french-kings-in-order/](https://www.theawl.com/2012/07/nicknames-for-french-kings-in-order/)

Many of these are not particularly flattering, like “Louis the Lazy,” “Louis the Fat,” or “Charles the Bald,” or “Charles the Mad.” But the French people gave them those names. This was particularly common in France because so many of their kings had the same names. 17 French kings were named Louis.

The numbers tend to be used by historians writing their histories. It’s more orderly and less judgmental.

But during their lifetimes there’s no need for numbers or nicknames. No one has any confusion about the present monarch. For most people Queen Elizabeth was just Queen Elizabeth, not Queen Elizabeth II. And King Charles is just King Charles, not King Charles III.