Archie again

[Fredisbest]

I have seen two posts on Archie now, very marmite name. Some hate and others love. I just wondered why the hatred?

I have one of my own who is now 25 so do not understand it does not work on an adult?
If anything I think of it as a slightly posh name.

I'm not keen on it. I don't hate it, it just to me sounds very twee and fluffy, in the same camp as Alfie, Albie etc.

I also really dislike shortened cute versions of longer traditional names - I have one myself and have always been annoyed that my parents didn't give me the full name.

People just like different types of name.

Lots of names are either liked or disliked. That doesn’t mean there is anything wrong with them. I don’t think of Archie as a posh name though but perhaps that view is tainted by several of the ones I know.

I’m an old person (almost 40) and have just started working with a guy who’s an Alfie, probably around the same age as your son. I know it’s not Archie but both work on adults.

However, we personally gave our son a name with several different shortening options so he has flexibility to choose what would be considered the more adult version - if that makes sense.

The most famous Archie atm is part of the Royal Family so if you have an Archie who is younger than him then I think it attracts comments about the Sussexes.

I have teens so boys names ending in an -ee sound is totally normal for their age group but maybe younger parents want to move away from that?

I have one, a young child named after a relative in their 70’s.

Where I am in Scotland it doesn’t seem to have the hatred, is moderately popular for wee boys but is very popular for dogs

If you love it, use it. Honestly people will have an opinion on any name. I hate Henry but can’t explain why.

It annoys me hearing Archie said in some accents though, when the “r” isn’t pronounced properly, it sounds quite whiny.

@TicTacTwo

The most famous Archie atm is part of the Royal Family so if you have an Archie who is younger than him then I think it attracts comments about the Sussexes.

I have teens so boys names ending in an -ee sound is totally normal for their age group but maybe younger parents want to move away from that?

My Archie is in his 20s however I do not understand that comment.

So many children are called George and Charlotte and even Louis and wouldn’t think of the royals.

Especially Archie being such a “common” name.

Archie is an old family name hence why I do not see the twee

I like it.

I don't hate the name, it's just not to my taste. I'm not really keen on shortened versions of quite old fashioned names. See also: Alfie, Albie etc. They just seem overly 'cute' to me, but nothing terribly wrong with them.

I personally just rarely like "ie/y" ending names. With the exception of very old (possibly regal connotation) names like Henry, Mary etc, most "ie/y" names have a cute/sweet sound to me that while lovely on a small child, I feel lacks gravitas a bit on an adult. So I'd use them as a nickname but not a given name. Thankfully we are all different though or there would be a lot less names out there!

@Nell96

I get that with some names like Alfie etc but Archie is in itself a very old name.
Does do not do for us all to be the same but if it was such a dreadful name surely there wouldn’t be so many around

Don't worry about what other people think op. Everyone is different.

It's not my favourite name, but I do have a nephew called Archie

Thank you.
I have not really thought about it before now just seeing all the negativity on here made me wonder what was so wrong with it

Again, I don't think it's a dreadful name, it's just not one I'd pick. There are plenty of other names which I actively dislike, and Archie isn't really one of them. I realise it's an old name, but it does seem to have had a resurgence in popularity around the same time as all the Alfies etc., so they tend to all get lumped together in my head. My favourite boy's name at the moment is Miles and plenty of people dislike it. We all have different taste - I would get too upset about other people's opinions x

Isn’t the old form Archibald rather than Archie, though?

Personally I don't like the sound of the 'arch' bit of it, combined with the 'ie' ending which I'm not keen on, particularly for boys' names. Also, I'm not one for using diminutives as full birth certificate names.

It's just personal taste. Other people's opinions shouldn't matter.

I was just thinking why I disliked male names in particular ending in ‘ie’, and I think it’s that to me they sound dog-rough — they remind me of Ronnie and Reggie Kray. I imagine a family of hoodlums called Archie, Alfie, Bertie, Frankie, Freddie etc.

@SlightDrizzle

Well you sound like a raging snob

It used to be one of those names that seemed really old fashioned and not in a good way.

The actor Cary Grant's real name was Archibald, and it seemed an ugly name for such a handsome man. Then there was Archie on Emmerdale and he wasn't very nice, then in the late 1990s there was a Sunday night tv series, a sort of cut-price Downton Abbey, called Monarch of the Glen where the laird was called Archie and the love interest was called Alexandera/Lexi. Suddenly babies were being named Archie and Lexi.

A bit like Darcey only became popular after Strictly Come Dancing was launched.

The names having different versions Archie, Archibald, and even Archer (oh dear), Lexi/Alexander etc, and Darcey/Darcie/Darcy skews the popularity a bit but both Archie and Darcey became very popular.

I particularly don't like Darcey because it was a surname(Darcy, D'Arcy), with 'posh' associations, then it was the rather unusual name of a beautiful and talented ballerina, then, boom, there are Darceys everywhere. Surname + celebrity-inspired.

Many waves of name popularity can be traced back to a celebrity (Tracey/Debbie/Sean/Gary etc) and the names, about 20 years later seem dated.

Archie doesn't seem bad in a scottish accent, but I really dislike the way it gets shortened to Arch.

Lexi - sorry, but it rhyming with sexy makes it seem a bit seedy.

[quote Fredisbest]@SlightDrizzle

Well you sound like a raging snob[/quote]
No, from an extremely WC family of binmen and street sweepers, and you did ask why the dislike. I’m not the only one making the association either — I’ve seen it before on here.

@SlightDrizzle

Only one I can see calling names dog rough. Would be very intrigued at your DC’s name.
An opinion is an opinion but there is no need to be so rude

Don,t hate it, but generally not keen on shortenned versions, and it,s very popular at the moment. My grandpa was called archie for a while as his middle name was Archibald.

Not keen. Short for Archiebald which is dire.

Not on this thread! On other threads about this or similar names down the years, it’s come up. And seriously, if you can’t handle replies, I’d really recommend not asking ‘why the hatred’ for a name you’ve already used on a child you love on the Internet.

DS’s name is one of the less-used Biblical names.

@Fredisbest, I find it strange how you ask an opinion then criticise someone for giving one.

I usually dislike names if I have witnessed the names being screeched out when I'm out and about, or if a child with that name is misbehaving or attention-seeking.

I might also dislike a name because I didn't like it when it seemed very dated.

Overpopularity tends to put me off names - it won't if the name is a classic one but it will if it is one that's been blown in from nowhere.