Archibald

What Archibald means

Means “pure, holy, genuine, precious + strong, bold”

From Anglo-Norman Arcebald, Arcenbald or Ercenbald, from Old French Archaunbault, from Proto-West Germanic *Erknabalþ, from *erkn (“pure, holy, genuine, precious”) +‎ *balþ (“strong, bold”).

Source: Wiktionary, “Archibald” (revision 93882818), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Archibald?

US: Rising: up from #2486 in 2015. England & Wales: Rising: up from #461 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 1890, when 38 boys got the name (#279 that year). First in the US records in 1880.

How common

• About 1 in 9,283 baby boys in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 2,211 baby boys in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 2,806 baby boys in Scotland in 2025

“1 in N” divides by all listed births for that sex. The US list leaves out names given to fewer than 5 babies, and the UK lists leave out names given to 2 or fewer, so the real figure is a little rarer than shown.

Where in the US

Most popular in UT (0.31 per 1,000 boys), WI (0.3 per 1,000 boys), MN (0.29 per 1,000 boys) in 2025.

SSA state data, 2025. Share of all listed boys born in each state.

US vs UK

Archibald is #1145 in the US and #346 in England & Wales (2025).

Same sex as this page (boys). SSA (US), ONS (England and Wales), NRS (Scotland).

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 99.9+% of US babies named Archibald were boys.

Counts below the publishing threshold (US 5, UK 3) are not included.

How to say it

IPA from Wiktionary.

If you like Archibald

Boys

• Bo#449Swedish, from Old Norse Búi, meaning “dweller, long-time resident”^*
• Otto#277“wealth, riches”^*
• Everett#77Same root as Everard, meaning “wild boar + hard, brave”^*
• Otis#652Editor’s note More popular in England & Wales than the US: #71 vs #652 in 2025
• Conrad#417“bold, brave + counsel”^*
• Archie#301“anti-aircraft artillery”^*

For a sister

• Louisa#694Form of Louis, meaning “loud; famous + battle”^*
• Alice#65“noble + character”^*
• Ada#219“noble”^*
• Amalia#566“vigor, bravery”^*
• Evelina#778Editor’s note Up from #1,354 in 2015 to #778 in 2025 in the US
• Amelia#4“vigor, bravery”^*

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under Germanic, whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Archibald’s. Rank is US 2025.