How popular is the baby name Archibald in the United States right now? How popular was it historically? Use the popularity graph and data table below to find out! Plus, see all the blog posts that mention the name Archibald.

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Popularity of the baby name Archibald


Posts that mention the name Archibald

Where did the baby name Wavell come from in 1942?

British military officer Archibald Wavell (1883-1950)
Archibald Wavell

In 1942, the baby name Wavell popped up in the U.S. baby name for the first and (so far) only time:

  • 1944: unlisted
  • 1943: unlisted
  • 1942: 7 baby boys named Wavell [debut]
  • 1941: unlisted
  • 1940: unlisted

Where did it come from?

A British Army officer with a very British name: Archibald Percival Wavell (pronounced way-vell).

Wavell served in various wars from the Second Boer War onward, but he would have come to the attention of Americans during the early part of WWII while serving as Commander-in-Chief Middle East. In Northern Africa, his British forces defeated the Italians, but were unable to defeat the Germans (led by Erwin Rommel).

What are your thoughts on the baby name Wavell?

Source: Archibald Percival Wavell, 1st Earl Wavell – Britannica.com

P.S. Want to see another surname-starting-with-W that turned into a WWII-inspired one-hit wonder? Check out Wainwright…

80+ Hidden gems: Rare baby boy names

gems

Want a boy name that’s not popular, but also not unheard of?

I looked through all the names at the bottom of SSA’s 2011 mega-list and found a bunch of hidden gems:

  1. Alaric (48 baby boys)
  2. Alban (12)
  3. Aldous (11)
  4. Aldric (7)
  5. Alphonse (20)
  6. Archibald (14)
  7. Astor (5)
  8. Augustin (50)
  9. Balthazar (13)
  10. Barclay (6)
  11. Barnabas (8)
  12. Bartholomew (19)
  13. Booker (22)
  14. Chadwick (34)
  15. Cyril (41)
  16. Clancy (14)
  17. Claude (44)
  18. Clement (34)
  19. Crispin (21)
  20. Darcy (15)
  21. Dirk (40)
  22. Doyle (10)
  23. Ernst (6)
  24. Ferdinand (20)
  25. Garrick (42)
  26. Giles (20)
  27. Gregor (14)
  28. Griffith (18)
  29. Grover (9)
  30. Gustaf (7); Gustav (29)
  31. Horatio (10)
  32. Hubert (46)
  33. Ignatius (49)
  34. Isidore (7)
  35. Kermit (6)
  36. Lambert (6)
  37. Laird (17)
  38. Laurence (48)
  39. Laurent (9)
  40. Leander (48)
  41. Leith (7)
  42. Lemuel (50)
  43. Lowell (29)
  44. Maxfield (22)
  45. Newton (14)
  46. Nicanor (8)
  47. Norbert (9)
  48. Norris (21)
  49. Ogden (13)
  50. Orson (33)
  51. Osborn (5); Osborne (7)
  52. Oswald (18)
  53. Pascal (25)
  54. Percival (13)
  55. Peregrine (9)
  56. Piers (16)
  57. Regis (10)
  58. Remis (11)
  59. Roscoe (47)
  60. Rudolph (44)
  61. Rufus (39)
  62. Rupert (8)
  63. Sanford (6)
  64. Seymour (6)
  65. Sherman (40)
  66. Sinclair (8)
  67. Tavish (16)
  68. Thane (48)
  69. Tobiah (14)
  70. Walton (14)
  71. Warner (48)
  72. Watson (42)
  73. Webster (8)
  74. Weldon (27)
  75. Werner (11)
  76. Wilbert (42)
  77. Wilbur (20)
  78. Winfield (7)
  79. Winfred (7)
  80. Winslow (10)
  81. York (5)
  82. Zebulon (25)
  83. Zeno (13)

(In some cases, a different spelling of the name is more popular than what’s shown here. For instance, Laurence is rare, but Lawrence is moderately popular.)

Like any of these?

Spot any other good names at the end of the list?

P.S. Here’s the girls’ list.

Image: Adapted from Birmanian rock crystals by Mauro Cateb under CC BY-SA 3.0.

More Titanic-inspired baby names

RMS Titanic
RMS Titanic

This Sunday, April 15, is the 100-year anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic.

We’ve already talked about two Titanic-inspired baby names, Archibald Astor and Edwin Titanic, but there are others.

Here’s what I’ve found so far:

  • Dolly Titanic Ranshaw was born in Iowa on Jun. 27, 1912, to Tom and Karla Ranshaw.
  • Mary Catherine Titanic Marcotte was born in Ontario on Apr. 30, 1912, to Albert and Delvina Marcotte.
  • Paul Titanic Maloney was born in Massachusetts on Apr. 8, 1912, to Mark and Catharine Maloney. (Like Edwin, he was born a few days before the disaster, so clearly his parents didn’t choose his name right away — a common practice during that era.)
  • Sara Carpathia Aks was born in Virginia on March 12, 1913, to Titanic survivor Leah Aks and her husband Samuel (who was not aboard). She was named after the rescue ship RMS Carpathia.
  • Titanic Grissom was born in Arkansas c.1912 to Edward and Teary Grissom.

Know of any others?

Image: RMS Titanic by F. G. O. Stuart

Baby named after Titanic victims

RMS Titanic
RMS Titanic

In April of 1912, Mr. and Mrs. Cecil A. Ferguson of Washington, D.C., welcomed a baby boy.

They named him Archibald Astor after Major Archibald Butt and millionaire John Jacob Astor, both of whom had perished in the sinking of the Titanic on April 15.

The parents said they hoped their baby would “emulate the heroism of these men.”

(Though the newspaper article I saw claimed the baby “was born on the day the Titanic went down,” the Social Security Death Index lists Archibald A. Ferguson’s birth date as April 11.)

Source: “Baby Is Named Archibald Astor.” Detroit Free Press 29 Apr. 1912: 4.
Image: RMS Titanic by F. G. O. Stuart