Archibald (name)

Gender	Male
Word/name	Germanic

Archibald is a masculine given name, composed of the Germanic elements (with an original meaning of "genuine" or "precious") and bald "bold".

Medieval forms include Old High German Erchambald, Erkanbold, Erkanbald and Anglo-Saxon Eorcenbald. Erkanbald, bishop of Strasbourg (d. 991) was also rendered Archaunbault in Old French. The Anglo-Saxon name did not survive, and the modern given name in English derives from the introduction of the Old French name, with a secondary association of its first element with the Greek prefix meaning "chief, master", to Norman England in the high medieval period.

The form Archibald became particularly popular among Scottish nobility in the later medieval to early modern periods, whence usage as a surname is derived by the 18th century, found especially in Nova Scotia and in Scotland.

English diminutives or hypocorisms include Archibald, Arch, Archy, Archie, Baldie. Variants include French Archambault, Archaimbaud, Archenbaud, Archimbaud, Italian Archimboldo, Arcimbaldo, Arcimboldo, Portuguese Arquibaldo, Arquimbaldo and Spanish Archibaldo. Archibald is used as the anglicization of the (unrelated) Gaelic given name Gille Easbuig (also anglicized as ).

The given name Archibald was comparatively popular in the United States in the late 19th century, peaking at rank 290 in 1890, but it rapidly fell out of fashion in the early 20th century, falling below rank 1,000 in popularity during the 1920s.

In the late medieval and early modern period, the given name Archibald became popular among Scottish aristocracy in particular. See , , , , , for lists of individuals with these names.

Arcomboldo or Arcimboldi was used as a surname in Renaissance Italy; see Giovanni Arcimboldi, Giuseppe Arcimboldo.

...
Wikipedia