Archer

English
"bowman"

Archer Origin and Meaning

The name Archer is a boy's name of English origin meaning "bowman".

Archer is an Anglo-Saxon surname that feels more modern than most because of its on-target occupational and Hunger Games associations. And it's a nice way to bypass the clunky Archibald to get to the cool nickname Archie.

But have a look at that amazing popularity chart below: After 1889, Archer took a 130-year nap, resurfacing on the Top 1000 in 2009 and now shooting straight upwards. Five years ago, we named Archer one of our Hottest Names of 2011—and, indeed, it jumped 102 places that year, thanks in part to Archer's similarity to popular Asher and its cross-gender appeal. Moms may like its literary gentility and dads its tough-guy FX cartoon appeal. Or, of course, vice versa.

Trivia tidbit: Archer is the name of Dr. Doolittle's father.

# 126 in the US

Archer Rank in US Top 1000

# 61 on Nameberry

Archer Rank in Nameberry Top 1000

Archer Popularity

Famous People Named Archer

  • Archer Ernest BaldwinEnglish MP
  • Archer Kent BloodAmerican diplomat
  • Archer John Porter MartinEnglish chemist; winner of the Nobel Prize
  • Archer Alexandermodel for the slave in the Emancipation Memorial located in Lincoln Park, Washington, DC, USA
  • Archer Milton HuntingtonAmerican historian and philanthropist
  • Archer KingAmerican actor, agent and producer
  • Archibald Paul "Archer" MacMackinAmerican silent film director and writer
  • Archer James OliverBritish portrait painter
  • Archer PrewittAmerican cartoonist and musician of The Sea and Cake
  • Archer Sageson of blogger Rebecca Woolf
  • Archer Jones Sebastian (b. 2012)son of singer Guy Sebastian and Jules Egan
  • Archer Grason Ewing (b. 2014)son of actor Dan Ewing
  • Archer Robert Seddon (b. 2015)son of broadcaster Sally Bowrey and Richard Seddon

Archer in Pop Culture

  • Archer Crosscharacter in Rachel Hawkins's Hex Hall series
  • Archercharacter in the Fire series by Kristin Cashore
  • Archer MontgomeryAddison's brother on TV's "Grey's Anatomy" and "Private Practice"
  • Archer Finncharacter in Sarah J. Maas's "Crown of Midnight"
  • Archer Halecharacter in Mia Sheridan's book "Archer's Voice"
  • Archer Evermondecharacter in J.K. Rowling's "The Potter Family"
  • ArcherTeam Rocket Executive in the video games Pokémon Gold and Pokémon Silver
  • "Archer" animated TV series about main character Sterling Malory Archer
  • Newland Archermain character in Edith Wharton's "Age of Innocence"
  • Jonathan Archercharacter in the Star Trek series
  • "The Archers" British radio soap
  • Archersbrand of schnapps