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Re: King as a given name
Probably from the surname. Which, itself, would have originated from a nickname for a particularly regal person or from an occupation name - popular given names, when surnames were becoming useful, were very popular indeed and it was useful to refer to John who worked as a baker as John Baker, and to John who was directly employed by or on behalf of the monarch as John King.
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I've also heard that royal names such as King, Queen, Princess etc. were given to black slaves' children, so that their owner had to refer to them using names designing high titles.
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I'm glad to say that that never happened in my country.
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