Archibald comes from the Germanic Ercanbald and means "genuine and bold" or "truly brave", from ercan, genuine, and bald, bold. The Normans brought it to Britain, where it became a Scottish favorite and the source of the nickname Archie, now hugely popular in the United Kingdom. In the United States Archibald was virtually unused in 2000 but has climbed to number 1145 in 2025, its best rank so far.