Great Sibsets - Archie & Harry

Prince Harry......with a puppy! Too cute!

Today's sibset is inspired by an old workmate of mine. Anita and her husband Fraser moved here to Australia a few years ago from Scotland in the U.K. One of the reasons for the move was because they thought Australia would be a great place to raise a family (which I totally agree with, of course!), and they are now the proud parents of two beautiful boys. Big brother Archie is now 2 years old (almost 3), and Harry was born at the start of this year.

Archie and Harry are both such charming names, and complement each other extremely well. They're popular both here and in the U.K. While the names are firm favourites in the UK, and quite popular here in Australia, they are still to be embraced in America. In 2011 Archie was #24 on the England and Wales charts, while Harry took the number 1 position. In Australia Archie was #39 and Harry #40, and in America Archie was #1910 and Harry was #709 in 2011.  So if you live in the US and are a fan of British-sounding names, here are two great options you can get behind before everyone else discovers how great they are too.

Archie comes from the Teutonic name Archibald, and means 'bold, noble'. It could be a great alternative to Archer, a top #500 name in the US and number #12 in Australia. Anita tells me that Fraser suggested  Archie's name for a couple of reasons. Firstly, he was inspired by the soccer player (yes, I realise it's football to almost every other country in the world, but we have something here called Aussie Rules Football) Archie Gemmill. Archie Gemmill had a great career, but is best remembered for scoring the winning goal against the Netherlands in the 1978 FIFA world cup. The goal made him a national hero in Scotland, and was even mentioned in the cult film 'Trainspotting'. Which brings us to their second reason for choosing Archie - as Scots, it struck them as a great name to honour their Scottish roots.

Harry was also inspired by a famous figure - Prince Harry. Anita tells me he was a bit of a last minute pick (which is an understatement to say the least - she was still looking at baby naming books while she was in labour), but just seemed right as she is a bit of a royalist at heart and has always had a soft spot for Harry and his older brother William. Harry was traditionally a nickname for Henry, a German name meaning 'estate ruler'. Henry has been the name of many Kings of England, and is actually the birth name of Prince Harry. But somehow Harry seems to suit his cheeky but charming personality so much better. Of course there is also that incredibly famous Harry Potter, and the irrepressibly cute Harry Styles from British boy band sensation 'One Direction'. So the great thing is that with so many great Harry's to look up to people won't necessarily assume that you had the boy wizard in mind if you should choose to use Harry.

I love that both are nicknames that have become accepted as great names in their own right. They give off a warm, friendly and approachable vibe that makes them great picks that work extremely well together. And I know I'm not the only one who thinks so. I realised the other day that the celebrant who married me and my husband also has boys name Archie and Harry. It's definitely a winning combination.