On this side of the pond, the revelation of Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor as the name of Prince Harry and MeghanB次元官网网址檚 newborn son immediately sparked questions about his B次元官网网址渞ealB次元官网网址� first name B次元官网网址� Is it Archibald? Could he be Archer?
Nope. Last weekB次元官网网址檚 royal announcement revealed this kid is simply Archie, an apparent statement by his parents that they hope to give him as normal a life as possible.
The name is B次元官网网址渁 quintessentially English choice,B次元官网网址� declares Boston naming expert Laura Wattenberg, but it notably bucks convention in North America, where many parents eschew such cutesy, short monikers.
B次元官网网址淎rchie is a Top 20 given name in England and itB次元官网网址檚 not alone. Charlie and Alfie and Freddie and Reggie are all big hit names in England. ItB次元官网网址檚 one of the biggest differences as you cross the Atlantic in baby name style,B次元官网网址� says Wattenberg, author of B次元官网网址淭he Baby Name Wizard.B次元官网网址�
B次元官网网址淐ute just plays differently in England versus here, and particularly for boys and girls. WeB次元官网网址檙e much more willing to give diminutives to girlsB次元官网网址�. You wouldnB次元官网网址檛 be surprised to meet a Gracie or an Emmy but you would be surprised to meet even a Billy.B次元官网网址�
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In general, handles ending in B次元官网网址�-ieB次元官网网址� and B次元官网网址�-yB次元官网网址� have largely faded over the last century in Canada and the United States, agrees L.A.-based Linda Rosenkrantz of the website nameberry.com
ItB次元官网网址檚 one of the biggest differences in naming trends between the two continents. ArchieB次元官网网址檚 dad, notably goes by the nickname Harry, instead of his given name Henry.
If anything, many North American parents are more likely to bestow an invented name thatB次元官网网址檚 so new it canB次元官网网址檛 be truncated into something casual, say the experts.
B次元官网网址淲hat I hear today is not, B次元官网网址榃ell, of course weB次元官网网址檒l name Billy B次元官网网址榃illiam.B次元官网网址� I hear, B次元官网网址楬ow do I keep people from calling William, B次元官网网址淏illB次元官网网址�?B次元官网网址橞次元官网网址� says Wattenberg.
Consider the myriad short names that have been lengthened to seem formal, like Trenton and Jackson.
B次元官网网址淭he parents look for ways to add something formal, even when a name was a perfectly full name to begin with,B次元官网网址� says Wattenberg. B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 purely a parentB次元官网网址檚 sense of the name not feeling like itB次元官网网址檚 enough.B次元官网网址�
Professor Cleveland Evans, an onomastics expert at Bellevue University in Bellevue, Neb., says preferred boysB次元官网网址� names tend to be two or three syllables in length, which can be cut to one syllable in everyday conversation.
B次元官网网址淏y far, the most popular sound pattern in the U.S. and I would guess probably Canada, too, for boysB次元官网网址� names, especially newly popular boysB次元官网网址� names, is two syllables ending in B次元官网网址榥B次元官网网址� B次元官网网址� so you have Jackson and Jayden and all the things that rhyme with Aiden and Mason,B次元官网网址� says Evans, author of B次元官网网址淭he Great Big Book of Baby Names.B次元官网网址�
Some parents do choose Ben and Mike for birth certificates instead of Benjamin and Michael, but most still favour a formal name for official identification, no matter the social class, he adds.
B次元官网网址淭he image American parents have is any child can grow up to be anything and so no matter what their own circumstances are, they want to give their child a name that will fit into the executive suite,B次元官网网址� says Evans.
B次元官网网址淢eanwhile, I think a lot of working class people in Britain are proud to be working class and are not thinking in that way.B次元官网网址�
Gender plays a role, too, with B次元官网网址�-ieB次元官网网址� nicknames growing in popularity among girls, even if they started out as primarily boysB次元官网网址� names B次元官网网址� think Frankie, Billie, Charlie and Teddie.
That trend has pushed some boysB次元官网网址� parents to look for masculine alternatives, says Wattenberg, who studied names that were made out of words and found B次元官网网址渂oys are being given new names that literally mean weapons and violence.B次元官网网址�
B次元官网网址淩iot. Rage. Cannon. I think thatB次元官网网址檚 why I think it will take a lot for the cute British nicknames to catch on,B次元官网网址� she says.
B次元官网网址淓ven as gender roles have changed, what hasnB次元官网网址檛 changed is that parents want boys to be strong above all.B次元官网网址�
Top baby names registered with U.S. Social Security in 2018 were Emma and Liam, the agency revealed Friday.
They did not include Riot, Rage or Cannon, but Ruger B次元官网网址� also known as a brand of firearms B次元官网网址� was used 134 times.
There were only 207 Archies, barely enough to crack the Top 1,000 at 992.
ArchieB次元官网网址檚 middle name Harrison is far more popular in Canada, says Toronto kindergarten teacher Melissa King-Ferman, who says the name was especially popular in her class about five years ago.
In contrast, sheB次元官网网址檚 only met one child named Archie.
B次元官网网址淚 know more people that have an Archie dog than an Archie kid,B次元官网网址� says King-Ferman, a self-proclaimed royalist.
Wattenberg says parents who give a long formal name thinking that they can keep nicknames away are kidding themselves.
B次元官网网址淎t some point in childhood thereB次元官网网址檚 a change in ownership and the name no longer belongs to the parents, it belongs to the child,B次元官网网址� she says.
B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檝e talked to so many parents who thought that theyB次元官网网址檝e successfully called their son only Christopher, until he was 14 and they suddenly learned heB次元官网网址檇 been going by Chris at school for years.B次元官网网址�
Cassandra Szklarski, The Canadian Press
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