Twitter Has Some Thoughts About The Inspiration Behind Baby Sussex's Name
The CW and Riverdale just got the PR bump of the year, with the announcement of the name of Baby Sussex. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are pleased to announce their child has been named Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor. It's a brilliant choice, for the record, a name steeped in Americana while also totally passing among the old English upper-class set. However, there's one small detail missing. In America, Archie is a nickname. This set twitter users off on a frenzy: What is Archie short for? There's a lot of options.
Unlike the Cambridges, the Sussexes weren't locked into a specific royal set of names. For William and Kate, certain expectations must be met, since William stands to become first in line for the throne before the decade is out. Therefore, all his children have to have royal-appropriate names, George, Phillip, Arthur, Louis, etc. (Both William and Harry have names that are steeped in royal history too, with Harry's full name being Henry.)
However, with Kate having now had three children, bumping Harry down to sixth in line, and the very end of the "Major Royal" chain, his children with Meghan will be seventh in line at best and falling, which makes them minor royals.
The new little Archie would be Earl of Dumbarton at most, one of the titles Harry was given on his wedding day, but word is they won't be giving him any title at all. Instead, he'll just be Master Archie. Fans were curious if it stood for anything.
Archie does exist as a stand-alone name, and the meaning behind it is rather touching, especially when combined with Harrison as the middle name.
The name is a clever choice for the couple on many levels. Archie is the kind of name most would assume is short for Archibald, which sounds exactly like the sort of name a posh royal born son would have. It's stuffy and self-serious, precisely the kind of name one would find on the membership rolls of the swankiest of clubs. Except it's not his name, it's just the assumption behind it: All the posh, none of the baggage.
However, by going with the Archie nickname, it immediately calls to mind decades of Americana, from the famous All In The Family to the obvious Archie Comics reference that nearly everyone is making on Twitter. Archie Comics have been around since 1939, so it has a deep cultural history (considering America is only 200 odd years old) as well.
Also, it's charming, because the chances Archie inherits his father's ginger hair and his mother's freckles are pretty high.
Archie Comics wasn't the only pop culture reference people made upon hearing the baby's name. For some, it sounded more working class, like the kind of character one might find on the popular UK soap EastEnders.
Others noted All In The Family wasn't the only place in the 1970s where men were named Archie.
But for Archie Comics, it was the best day they'd had since Riverdale was called a hit.
Welcome, Archie Harrison. Can't wait to see if you really are ginger.
