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Archibald

#1,145 in 2025Boys' name

Pure, holy, genuine, precious + strong, bold

Archibald has been given to 3,985 babies in the U.S. since 1880. In 2025 it ranked #1,145 of 13,926 boys’ names in use. Its peak year was 2025, with 184 recorded.

Babies named Archibald, 2025

1 in 18,000

Archibald over time, 1880–2025

Boys
05010015020018801900192019401960198020002020

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Archibald: meaning, origin, and history

Pure, holy, genuine, precious + strong, bold

Germanic languages

What Archibald means

Archibald means “pure, holy, genuine, precious + strong, bold”, associated with erkn and balþ.

Dictionary etymologyReferences, data & attribution

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”).

Excerpt from Wiktionary: Archibald (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Origin, language, and formation

Archibald is used in English. Its origins include Germanic languages.

Archibald comes through Anglo-Norman Arcebald, Old French Archaunbault and Proto-West Germanic *Erknabalþ.

Pronunciation and spelling

In English, Archibald is pronounced /ˈɑː(ɹ).t͡ʃɪ.bɔːld/.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 3,985 boys were recorded with the name Archibald between 1880 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 184 in 2025; its best national rank was #279 in 1890.

Over 5 years its rank rose, from #1,657 in 2020 to #1,145 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank rose, from #2,489 in 2015 to #1,145 in 2025.

How common is Archibald?

Everything below is computed from the 2025 data — the most recent year available.

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 18,000
184 of 3,315,165 births
Among boys only
1 in 9,280
0.01% of boys
Rank, 2025
#1,145
of 13,926 boys’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
12,490 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Archibald sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Liam (20,818)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2025 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%
Class of 30Under 1%
Grade of 100Under 1%
School of 5003%

Put another way: gather 12,490 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Archibald. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Archibalds were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Archibald was born before 1944 — so the typical Archibald is around 81 today.

Median birth year
1944
About 81 years old
Biggest decade
2020s
21.4% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
34.2%
Spread across generations
Recorded since 1950
1,901
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

2020s — 21.4% of all recorded uses (853).

Is Archibald rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago
+31
Places climbed
Rank vs 5 years ago
+512
Places climbed
Rank vs 10 years ago
+1,344
Places climbed
Births vs 10 years ago
3.68×
More babies than then
Share of its own peak
100.0%
Peak was 2025 (184)
Years since peak
Peaking now
At its all-time high
Year-to-year steadiness
Volatile
32.0% average annual change
Best rank ever
#279
1890

Where Archibald is used

Across 2016–2025, Archibald was most concentrated in Minnesota — about 1 in 10,000 boys, against 1 in 19,656 across all states with data. It was least common in Georgia (1 in 100,000).

110 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Minnesota1 in 10,000
  2. 2Wisconsin1 in 10,000
  3. 3Utah1 in 11,111
  4. 4Illinois1 in 12,500
  5. 5Massachusetts1 in 14,286
  6. 6Ohio1 in 14,286
  7. 7Pennsylvania1 in 14,286
  8. 8California1 in 16,667

Shading is the share of that state's recorded boys given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings.

Archibald around the world

Where Archibald ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

  • England & Wales
    1996–2025
    #346
    in 2025
  • Scotland
    1974–2025
    #441
    in 2025
  • Northern Ireland
    2007–2007
    #357
    in 2007
  • France
    1980–2025
    #540
    in 2025
  • Canada
    2013–2024
    #1,181
    in 2024
  • South Australia
    1944–2013
    #754
    in 2013

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, National Records of Scotland, Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency, Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques, Statistics Canada and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). ONS, NRS, NISRA data under Open Government Licence v3.0. INSEE data under Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence. CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0.

Notable people named Archibald

People whose public names include Archibald, backed by Wikidata given-name records and ordered by linked Wikimedia pages. The name may be a middle name.

People data from Wikidata (CC0). Fame is measured, not judged — the order reflects how widely each person is documented, not the U.S. birth records popularity this page is otherwise about.

Archibald in other languages

Cross-language forms and variants of Archibald. Linked forms have their own page here.

ArchibaldoArcibaldo

Variant forms from Wikidata (CC0). Most are used mainly outside the United States; U.S. birth records statistics cover US usage only.

Archibald by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#1,145
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Up 512
Best rank ever
#279
1890
Peak year
2025
184 that year
First recorded
1880
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
3,985
Count in 2025
184

Names similar to Archibald

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

FitzgeraldArcadioArcangelOswaldArchivaldoArchimedesArchArchiebaldArcherArcadiusEmeraldArchieArchangelHaraldMcdonaldReginaldDeraldJeraldJerraldArcturusRonnaldMacdonaldArcenioRegginald

Names with a curve like Archibald

Not spelling — timing. These names rose, peaked and faded in the same years as Archibald, so they read as being from the same moment even when they look nothing alike.

CasperAmbroseLoyalLevyHarlowIgnatiusJonesLeopoldHollandRushWestConway

Sibling names for Archibald

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

Explore around Archibald

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