It has been revealed the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's two-year-old son, whose full name is Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor, almost had a different first name.

While talking to another parent at the Invictus Games, held in Holland, Netherlands, Meghan Markle was said to have revealed that her and Prince Harry were torn between Archie and Harrison for their first-born's name.

Sherry McBain, a nursing officer competing in the Invictus Games, revealed that during a children's reading session during the annual event, Markle was talking to McBain's wife Mandy, who brought their son Harrison along.

It was at this point that they realised the similarities in their children's names.

"[Meghan] was like, 'Harrison, that's Archie's middle name', and Mandy was like 'Yeah, I know,'" McBain explained.

"They were just having a chat because Harry and Meghan couldn't decide between Archie and Harrison for the first name."

Archie, whom Markle and Prince Harry welcomed on May 6, 2019, the year after they wed at Windsor Castle, takes his name from a shortened version of Archibald, meaning bold and distinguished. As for the name Harrison, which originated in the Middle Ages, it stands for "son of Harry".

The Sussexes later announced that they were naming their global nonprofit foundation Archewell.

Explaining their decision, they said: "Before Sussex Royal came the idea of "arche"—the Greek word meaning 'source of action.' We connected to this concept for the charitable organisation we hoped to build one day, and it became the inspiration for our son's name. To do something of meaning, to do something that matters."

Archie was the ninth most popular baby name in 2020 (up from nineteenth place), taking over from Charlie in the top 10 names for boys.

The royal couple also chose a name with a special meaning for their baby daughter Lilibet ('Lili') Diana, who was born on June 4, 2021.

Lilibet's first name takes after Queen Elizabeth II's nickname, while her middle name is an ode to Prince Harry's late mother Princess Diana.

McBain also spoke of how "really open" and "very friendly" Markle was at the event, gushing that Harrison was "just over the moon that a princess has read him a story, so that went down really well with all the UK children."

So much so that he showed off his artwork to the duchess.

McBain said: "Harrison was drawing pictures and telling her that it was a picture of a tram."

"I don't think it quite looked like a tram, so she was very gracious and said that's a brilliant tram, so he was delighted."

British Army veteran James Stride, who was also at the children's book reading event at the Invictus Games, told the Daily Mail: "Meghan was quite chatty and told me she was missing her children.

"She said she wanted to be with children as she was missing her own."

At the opening ceremony on Saturday, Prince Harry spoke of Archie's hopes of becoming an astronaut or pilot.

He added: "But what I remind him is that no matter what you want to be when you grow up, it's your character that matters most, and nothing would make his mum and me prouder than to see him have the character of what we see before us today."

As for his wishes for Archie and Lilibet: he wants them "to grow up in a better world".

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