Archer
A masculine name derived from the word for the skilled archer.
Name Census estimates that about 27,236 living Americans carry the first name Archer. It sits at #115 in the overall ranking, outside the top 50 but still well-represented. It is a predominantly male name (98.6% of registrations). The average person named Archer today is around 8 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Archer births was 2024 (3,118 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Archer. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Archer with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Archer is used almost entirely for boys, the SSA data does show 385 girls registered with the name since 1880.
- • Archer is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 8 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
27K
~ 1 in 12,585 Americans
Peak year
2024
3,118 babies that year
Average age
8
years old
2024 SSA rank
#115
Tracked since 1880
Census
Archer in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 13,220 people with the first name Archer, which placed it at #2,054 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#2,054
National first-name rank
People counted
13K
13,220 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
4.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
79.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Archer
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Archer is White at 79.8%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (7.9%) and Hispanic (7.7%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Archer described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Archer at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White79.8% · 10,553
- Two or more races7.9% · 1,043
- Hispanic or Latino7.7% · 1,021
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.3% · 300
- Black or African American1.5% · 199
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 104
Gender
Gender distribution for Archer
Archer leans heavily male at 98.6% of total registrations, but 385 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Archer as a male name
- Ranked #115 in 2024
- 3,093 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2024 (3,093 births)
Archer as a female name
- Ranked #5,154 in 2024
- 25 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2021 (35 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Archer leans strongly male. 12,914 people counted with this name were male (97.6%), compared with 311 female bearers (2.4%).
Popularity
Archer: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Archer from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 14,081 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Archer by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Archer during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Archers live
The SSA's state-level files cover 51 states and territories. California, Texas, Ohio recorded the most babies named Archer, while Vermont, Rhode Island, Delaware recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 508 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Archer
The name Archer has its roots in the Old English "arche" or "archere", derived from the French "archier" which means "bowman" or "archer". This name originated in medieval times and was initially given to those who practiced the skilled occupation of archery, often employed in warfare or hunting.
During the Middle Ages, archery was highly valued as a military skill, and archers played a crucial role in many battles across Europe. The name Archer became associated with strength, precision, and skill in combat, reflecting the admiration for those who excelled in this profession.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Archer can be found in the Domesday Book, a comprehensive survey of England commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. This document mentions several individuals with the surname Archer, indicating the name's presence in England during the Norman period.
In literature, the name Archer appears in Geoffrey Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales" from the late 14th century, where a character named Robin the Archer is mentioned. This reference further solidifies the name's connection to the medieval tradition of archery.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Archer. One of the earliest was John Archer, an English explorer born around 1598, who is known for his voyages to Virginia and his interactions with Native American tribes.
Another prominent figure was James Archer, an Irish revolutionary and politician born in 1818, who played a significant role in the Irish Rebellion of 1848 and the Young Irelander movement.
In the field of literature, Howard Archer, an American author born in 1920, is recognized for his contributions to the genre of science fiction and fantasy writing.
The name Archer also gained fame through the exploits of Benjamin Archer, a British naval officer born in 1787, who played a crucial role in the Battle of Trafalgar and later served as a Member of Parliament.
Lastly, one cannot overlook the legendary archer and folk hero Robin Hood, whose tales have been passed down through generations and have become an integral part of English folklore.
While the name Archer may have originated from a specific occupation, it has transcended its original meaning and become a symbol of skill, courage, and precision, reflecting the admiration and respect accorded to those who mastered the art of archery throughout history.
People
Archer + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Archer as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with A
Other first names starting with A with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Archer: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Archer?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 27,236 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Archer going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 12,585 US residents.
Is Archer a common name?
We classify Archer as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 28,135 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Archer most popular?
The single biggest year for Archer was 2024, when 3,118 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Archer is about 8 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Archer in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 13,220 people with the name Archer, or 4.38 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,054 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Archer in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Archer?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Archer leans strongly male. 12,914 people counted with this name were male (97.6%), compared with 311 female bearers (2.4%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Archer?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Archer is White at 79.8%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (7.9%) and Hispanic (7.7%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Archer most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Archer in the 2020 Census, accounting for 79.8% (10,553 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Archer in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Archer a male name?
Yes, 98.6% of people registered as Archer in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Archer still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Archer in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Archer can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people have the name Archer?
For a quick modern take, check how many people share the name Archer on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.