Hi Jennifer,

For most of his life my husband has wanted to name a child Jack after his grandfather. However, I’ve rejected it because a) it’s incredible popularity for kids right now and the ubiquity in popular culture is annoying to me and b) there are several Jacks in his family currently living with the same last name.

So I compromised and said we could use it as a middle name. Currently our top contender for the first name is Archer, but Archer Jack sounds too cartoon-y name to me. We’ve discussed naming him Jack Archer and calling him Archer, but I wonder if it’s just a little too complicated to go by a middle name from the start. Thoughts?

Thanks,
Sarah

Hi Sarah,

Since Archer is an occupational name, you are right in that Archer Jack sounds like a character, as it appears to be an adjective, like “Friar Tuck.” That being said, no child is really called by his middle name unless they’re in trouble–either with their parents or before a judge.

So really, his name is going to be Archer. And if you love that name, go for it! However, I must say that if you don’t like popular names (or cartoon names), you might want to keep namestorming! Archer is in the top 50 on our Popularity Charts and holding. It’s also the name of a very popular animated series.

Sincerely,
Jennifer