Arlo

I love the name Arlo

Lovely name but I think of the dinosaur.

It does seem very of the moment, it's a cute name but I would worry it will date quickly.

Oh I thought your username seemed familiar.
I guess we have different tastes, Both names are OK I suppose. Reuben is much nicer than Arlo IMO. A friend has a Ruben. It suits hiim but I've only ever known him with that name.I don't like Arlo at all, but you may have already guessed that

[quote WhoppingBigBackside]@SummerLew, Noah has been a top 100 name for nearly 20 years. They are everywhere. It's #4 now. Arlo shot up from outside the top 100 to #49 in 2016, so the increase in popularity was much faster.[/quote]
Noah has been a top 100 name for a much longer time, but it is seeing a surge of popularity over the past 10 years. I share @SummerLew opinion that it will date to this time period along with Arlo, similar to how Jessica is dated to 80's/90's. Yes, it is still a classic and continues to have moderate use, like it did prior to it's peak, but it feels somewhat dated because of a popularity surge, I think it will be the same for Noah in 20-30 years time.

I really dislike it. I have no idea why it's popular all of a sudden.

But anyway, if you both love it, go for it. It is unlikely to raise any eyebrows.

It will date though...but that doesn't bother everyone

@WhoppingBigBackside

Oh you again.

Yes, my opinion obviously. As was the Ruben post.

@SummerLew, Noah has been a top 100 name for nearly 20 years. They are everywhere. It's #4 now. Arlo shot up from outside the top 100 to #49 in 2016, so the increase in popularity was much faster.

It's nice enough but will date very much to this time I think.

Something like Ivo or Jethro would avoid that.

It was in our top 3 names for DS and probably finished second on the list, I'd go for it!

It was on my list for DS3 but I'm so thankful I didn't use it as it's everywhere at the moment. It is a nice name though, I don't think it will date in a bad way. I think it will date in the same way that Noah will for example...

When you say there’s a lot of hate “round here”, do you mean on Mumsnet or where you live?

If it’s the former, maybe don’t ask on here and if it’s the latter, just don’t tell people the name. If you like it, use it!

I don’t like it. It sounds like a dog’s name.

I agree that the problem is not its popularity so much as its trendiness. I think it will be very dateable: the Nigel of today! That said, in itself I think it’s quite a nice name.

Was it a name that would have been on your list 5/10/15/20 years ago?

Makes me think of the disney dinosaur

Arlo is both far too trendy and far too popular for me. It's not a bad name if that doesn't bother you though.

I have an Arlo. We had specific reasons for choosing the name and it was less popular when DS was born (nearly a decade ago now).
If you like it just use it.
My son is at a small school, he's the only Arlo and among the rest of the school they have to identify so many children by both names as there are lots of duplicates.

• association with a horrific crime, Myra
• rude word in different language/culture, Pippa
• used by technology giant, Alexa

I wouldn’t take MN opinions on my chosen names, I don’t care if strangers online like it, but there is value in checking the name on a forum with a cross-section of society. If I had chosen Gabriel, but someone here said that Amazons next generation Alexa was going to be called that I would have to think very hard about using it for example. Knowledge is power.

If you like the name just use it, and don’t tell anyone your planned name irl or someone is bound to ruin it for you. It’s far harder for people to criticise your name choice when baby is here and already named.

Congratulations on your pregnancy.

If you love it, use it! It's a perfectly reasonable name. What are you hoping to gain by asking for approval here when you already know a lot of posters aren't keen?!

I think it’s quite a nice name.

Popularity would be a concern for me, it has has a sharp rise to 27 and doesn’t appear to have peaked yet, until a name does begin to plateau there is no knowing how popular it will become. But this is such a personal issue and different parents feel differently about what is an acceptable level of popularity.

As the level of use is very recent it is only saturated in the current generation of babies, once your child is over 18 and in ‘the real world’ he will be in the workplace with people of all ages so much more likely to be the only Arlo compared to more popular Jack and George that you mentioned, but also the less popular David and John which have been steadily used for generations. I think people forget this when they discuss popularity. I have a classic name that has steady use for over 100 years, I was the only Summa (not real name) in my school year, but there has been at least 1 other and upto 5 others since I have been in the workplace.

Finally, the name will date, and I think quite strongly given the sharpness of rise. Not something that bothers me, very very few names are actually timeless, even names in low use can ‘feel’ like the style of the time. But something to think on if that might be a problem for you.

Cute

I know 3 Arlo’s! All born in the last year x

You can't really compare it to names like Jack and George because they have been in use for centuries. You could compare it to something like Roman, which is one ahead at #21