Arcelia vs Archibald
American parents have registered 3,985 Archibalds since 1880, against 1,836 Arcelias. Archibald is still ahead, with 184 babies in 2025.
Babies given each name, 1880–2025
Arcelia Archibald
Each line is every baby given the name that year, girls and boys added together — the only count that means the same thing for both names. A line breaks where the name fell below five babies in a year — the point at which the SSA stops publishing it — rather than being drawn through a figure nobody published. A single published year in a gap shows as a dot.
Who was ahead
Of the 146 years in which either name was published, Archibald for 92 years and Arcelia for 54 years. The lead changed hands 12 times.
- 1880–1953 Archibald ahead, apart from one short spell
- 1957–2008 Arcelia ahead, apart from one short spell
- 2009–2025 Archibald ahead
8 shorter spells of a year or two are folded into the spans above rather than listed separately.
Side by side
| Arcelia | Archibald | |
|---|---|---|
| Total US births | 1,836 | 3,985 |
| Most in one year | 46 | 184 |
| Babies in 2025 | 20 | 184 |
| Estimated living today | 1,500 | 1,900 |
| Median age today | 42 | 7 |
| Peak year | 1975 | 2025 |
| Best rank | 1,935th girls | 1,145th boys |
| Rank in 2025 | 5,917th | 1,145th |
| First recorded | 1908 | 1880 |
| Girls / boys | 1,836 / 0 | 0 / 3,985 |
A rank is a position within one sex’s list for one year, so the two rank rows are not subtracted from one another and the winning column is not marked on them. The living figure is a life-table estimate, not a count.
Which name is older
Half of the Arcelias alive today are over 42; half the Archibalds are over 7. That is 35 years between them: two names in use at the same time, worn by two different generations.
Where each one is strongest
- Arcelia California (7.2×), Texas (3.2×)
- Archibald New York (2.6×), Pennsylvania (2.4×), Massachusetts (2.0×)
How much commoner the name is in that state than it is nationally, from births recorded since 1910.
Compare something else
Related comparisons
Social Security Administration birth records, 1880–2025, public domain. Full histories: Arcelia and Archibald.