Archibald

Boy name variations

Family name origins & meanings

• Scottish : from a Scottish personal name, Archibald, of Anglo-Norman French and (ultimately) Continental Germanic origin (see Archambault). In the Highlands of Scotland it was taken as an Anglicized equivalent of the Gaelic personal name Gille Easbaig ‘servant of the bishop’ (see Gillespie), probably because of the approximate phonetic similarity between Arch(i)bald and easbaig. Both Archibald and Gillespie are personal names much favored among Clan Campbell.
• This is the name of a leading Nova Scotia family, taken there by four brothers who emigrated from Londonderry, northern Ireland, in 1750–62.