Just a few days after they announced the birth of their son, Meghan Markle and Prince Harry revealed that they named their baby boy Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor. The announcement came shortly after Archie met his great-grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, and after he made his photo debut to the world with his parents.
While “Archie Harrison” may have come to a surprise to many trying to predict the name, Meghan and Harry chose it for several reasons. A source close to the couple shared with ELLE.com that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex wanted a “modern name” for their baby while respecting Royal tradition.
A Royal source shared that “there was no special meaning behind the name; the couple just loved it.”
Let’s decode the name.
Archie: According to nameberry.com: “Archie is a boy’s name of German origin meaning ‘truly brave.” Archie was the 18th most popular name for boys in England and Wales in 2017, according to the U.K. Office for National Statistics.
Despite speculation, the couple has not confirmed whether the name is a formal name of a nickname of Archibald. Harry’s late mother Princess Diana has an ancestor named Archibald Campbell, 9th Earl of Argyll of Scotland.
The name Archie also may have a special meaning for the royal family.
In January, a woman told the U.K. newspaper The Sun that she saw Meghan and Harry’s nephew and Prince William and Kate Middleton’s eldest child, Prince George, 5, was out playing with sister Princess Charlotte, 3, and their maternal grandmother Carole Middleton near her family home. The woman said she was walking her dog and George started petting it, so she asked him what his name is. She told the newspaper, “To my astonishment, he said, ‘I’m called Archie.'”
In terms of name popularity, Harrison is one of the most popular boys’ names in the UK and United States (Baby name site Nameberry.com ranks it as the 34th most popular name in England in 2017 and the 113th most popular name in the U.S. that same year). It means “son of Harry,” which is obviously fitting, given Archie’s father Prince Harry.
Archie, meanwhile, means “genuine,” “bold,” or “brave.” The Greek derivation of the name Archon means “ruler” (a fitting touch, as Archie’s great-grandfather Prince Philip descends from the Greek Royal family). Many had suspected that the couple might use traditional Royal family names or pay homage to Prince Philip, Queen Elizabeth’s husband and Harry’s grandfather, or perhaps use Spencer, Harry’s late mother Princess Diana’s maiden name.
