Mystery behind royal baby Archie Harrison's name

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, on Wednesday presented their first-born to the world, revealing that they have decided to name their baby Archie Harrison Mountbatten - Windsor.

While the bookmakers had the likes of Alexander, Arthur and Albert as their top favourites, Archie was definitely a surprise choice.

Joe Little, managing editor of Majesty royal magazine, said about the baby's name, "I don't think anyone of us saw either of these names coming."

So what do the names Archie and Harrison mean?

As per a report published by BBC, Archie mans 'genuine', 'bold' and 'brave'. It was initially used as a shortened form of Archibald, but is now used as a standalone.

Although the name Archie doesn't have any royal connotations attached, it is more popular in the Britain than the US, with almost 2,803 baby boys being named Archie in England and Wales in the 18th century.

This makes the name a constant in the list of top 50 names since 2003.

Meanwhile, Harrison, quite interestingly translates to 'son of Harry' and is more famous in the US than Archie, although it's still more common in the UK, where it was ranked the 34th most-popular boy's name in 2017.

This also means that the royal baby is an amalgamation and reflection of the diverse backgrounds his parents hail from.

About the name, Little said: "It may well be it's a name that Meghan is familiar with and again that's why they are using it."

He added, "Archie has a British feel to it, whereas Harrison is more of an American name. The first Harrison that springs to mind is Harrison Ford.

"They have wanted to do something a little bit different, and they have done."

According to sources, Meghan and Harry wanted to pick a unique name for their son, different from the rest of the royal names.

They have also chosen not to use a courtesy title for their baby.

As the first-born son of a duke, Archie could have assumed the title of Earl of Dumbarton but he will instead simply be known as Master Archie.

This has been lauded by royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams who said that the individuality shown by Harry and Meghan in their choice of non-traditionally royal names was "marvellous" and would "rejuvenate the monarchy".

Moreover, Mountbatten-Windsor is the surname created in 1960, a combination of the surnames of Queen and Prince Phillip when they got married.

The double-barrelled name was a given as a concession to the Duke of Edinburgh Prince Phillip, who had apparently complained about his children not bearing his name.

Royal author Penny Junor said she believes the Duke of Edinburgh would be "absolutely thrilled" with his surname being used.

"Prince Philip was never allowed to call his children by his own surname," she said. "I think that's a really nice tribute to Harry's grandfather."