A baby name expert breaks down Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s name choice

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If you haven’t yet heard, Meghan Markle and Prince Harry have gone public with their baby’s name. Drumroll, please … it’s Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor. Don’t you love it?!



I’ve been analysing baby names for six years and I couldn’t have picked a more perfect sobriquet for the royal bundle.

Even though the world was half-expecting Megs and Harry to break with tradition when it came to naming their baby given that they haven’t exactly played by the royal rules so far, UK bookies and the public still had their money on uber-traditional names such as Arthur, James, Philip, Albert and Alexander.

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Today The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are delighted to share their first public moment as a family. They are so incredibly grateful for the warm wishes and support they’ve received from everyone around the world, since welcoming their son two days ago. Photo cred: Chris Allerton ©️SussexRoyal

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Making a ‘normal’ statement  

Let’s break down Baby Sussex’s name, shall we?

Archie: Short for Archibald, a name of Germanic origin, it means “truly brave”. Some would say it’s truly brave of Meghan and Harry to choose a nickname-name that has no royal history, but Archie is currently the 18th most popular name for boys in the UK.

Many analysts – including me – believe that the royal couple chose a popular moniker to send the message to the world that Archie is just a “normal” kid. They don’t plan to live a life of royal fanfare, so they purposely chose a name that breaks with tradition and is relatable as heck. And can we talk about how bloody cute it is too? Love.

Some also believe that even though Archie is only number 1,182 for boys in the US, the nickname-as-first-name trend is very American, so it might be a nod to Meghan’s homeland.

Harrison: An English name that literally means ‘son of Harry’, Harrison is also popular but much more traditional than Archie. It will probably serve to smooth any ruffled feathers over the departure from royal custom.

Mountbatten-Windsor: This is the surname given to all descendants of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip.

Lord Louis Mountbatten was a cousin of Queen Elizabeth II, a World War II hero and a mentor to Prince Charles. Kate and Wills’ son Louis was also named after him.

Windsor is the surname King George V (Queen Elizabeth II’s great-great-grandfather) chose as the name for his dynasty.

Where’s Archie’s title? 

So, where’s the “Prince” or “Earl” or other royal title? Surprise: Archie doesn’t have one!

He isn’t entitled to be called a Prince because stuffy old George V decided that he needed to trim the fat in the monarchy, so he declared that only the eldest living child (Prince George) of the oldest living son (Prince William) of the oldest living son (Prince Charles) of the monarch (Queen Elizabeth II) could be called Prince or Princess. Sorry, Arch.

But it seems that Meghan and Harry aren’t fussed about titles anyway. They could’ve bestowed one of Harry’s titles on their son – Earl of Dumbarton was a hot favourite – but they decided to forego any royal labels. He’ll be known simply as Master Archie.

This is probably another way of telling the world, “Yo, he’s just a kid.”

Princess Anne (Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip’s only daughter) did the same with her kids to give them as normal a life as possible. Her daughter, Zara Tindall (nee Phillips), is an Olympic equestrian.

What about Prince George aka “Archie”?

Earlier this year, Kate and Wills’ firstborn, Prince George, revealed that his nickname was Archie.

The five-year-old was taking a little stroll with his grandmother, Carole Middleton when he stopped to pat a stranger’s dog. When she asked him what his name was (knowing full well given all the security around him), he said, “I’m called Archie!”

Riiiiiight… so, now we have two royal Archies?! Is the new Archie a tribute to the old Archie? Will Prince George have to find a new nickname? (Apparently, classmates call him “PG”!) Will George resent Archie for stealing his super-cool epithet? So. Many. Questions.

The cutest royal name there ever was 

Well, there you have it, folks: an adorably non-traditional name for the latest royal bubba.

That’s another chapter of Royal Baby Name Watch done and dusted. Now all we can do is coo over cute baby snaps and wait for Kate or Megs to pop out another little royal. Get busy, ladies!

 

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