Arlo a trend/fad name?

It is relatively much less common in the US than the UK these days. It's a top 200 name in the US and is 15th most popular in the UK. If you have young kids in the UK you will almost certainly know at least one Arlo, which is not the case in the US despite its historical popularity there.

It is of course much more common in America. And it was, of course, the name of the great Arlo Guthrie. Not a bad person to be named after.
And the name needs neither a nickname nor a shortened version.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arlo_Guthrie

I used to really like it as a name, until DH pointed out that the word sounded like somebody from Harlow (a rather - ahem - ‘crunchy’ town in Essex not far from where we live) pronouncing the word ‘Harlow’. Ie. ‘Arlow’

Since then I can’t unhear it 😬

I know a few Arlo’s as it’s very popular at the moment, quite a cute name not really sure if there’s anything to dislike but it is trending at the moment so yes you’d probably have people think “another little Arlo!” But if that doesn’t bother you then use it

Some are. James and Catherine could be any age. Wayne and Michelle probably not.

If I said my grandad's called William/my dad's called William/my son's called William it wouldn't raise an eyebrow.
If I said my grandad's called Jordan, my dad's called Arlo and my son's called Darren you'd be 🤔

Sorry I have to disagree, I do know and 80yo Darren but do agree that he is the anomaly

Most names will date though surely? Look at the names of the people you went to school with, are they popular now?

My advice would be to go with the name you love and if you’re worried about popularity, ask your MW if she has met many babies with that name recently.

Darren is 51 years old and has a son called Jordan aged 30.
Jordan has a baby son called Arlo.
These people cannot be any other age 😂
There are no 50 year old Arlos or 80 year old Darrens or babies named Jordan.

My DDog is called Arlo

I really like it.

My sister's cat is called Arlo, but that doesn't make it a pet name. We've got a cat called (Princess) Leia and Leia is definitely a human name.

If you like it, use it. I got talked out of using "Noah" 27 years ago on the grounds that it was so old fashioned he'd be laughed at in school. 7 years later it was one of the most popular boys names in the UK

@user1492757084 , sofa so good?
Sofas | Handmade British Sofas | Arlo & Jacob

It is faddy.
Arlo doesn't need a nick name.
Arlo Jacob sounds great.

Arlo, Ezra, Otis, Ira.

All fad 'old man' names.

If you like it, use it. But there will be more than one in the class. They're the 2020 version of the 1990s Jordan. Fad names get dated very quickly.

Arlo definitely a fad name, but I have also heard James a lot recently so might become a fad one in a few years too.

I disagree. Names come and go in terms of popularity, but the timeless ones are always there (just in smaller numbers). Sometimes they're number 1 in the charts, other times they dip to 50, 100, even out of the top 100, but then they start a cycle of upward trajectory again. Timeless names never truly go away. Saying there were 'very few' of a name in our generation or our parents' generation doesn't mean they weren't still around in healthy numbers up and down the country as a whole. They just weren't the name of the moment at the time.

Just because I didn't know anyone personally called George or Jack my age when I grew up, doesn't mean there aren't any around. Those names never went away completely, they just weren't the popular names of the time.

A bit like Anna and Matthew etc not being overly popular currently, but they're definitely still around. They haven't pretty much died off with 5 or less registrations a year, which will eventually be the fate of faddy names.

I can't imagine Arlo still being up there in 20 years time so yes, I do think it will be a fad name I'm afraid. Names which explode in popularity generally fall away dramatically over the next 10-20 years.

Your other choices are much more classic.

Why do you need a nickname? Arlo sounds pretty nicknamey in itself.

At a stretch, you could have Arthur nn Arlo. It is a stretch, but doable.

I’m from NI and have been having a good laugh at the Arlo trend - it’s a totally bog standard name of many years here! Not a very nice one may I add.. seems to have a strange connotation with badly behaved little boys, have never met a particularly pleasant young Arlo.

What about Arnold op?

It's an old name (Germanic/French I think, came to UK with the Normans) but to my knowledge not much used,

You could used Arno for short, which is more unusual so less at risk of dating him. It does sound like the Arno in Florence but I'm not sure that's a problem, especially for a nn. I actually like the sound of Arno better than Arlo. It reminds me of French Arnaud

@Mosaic80 , it's the Cornish version of James.

I know a lot of Arlos and Arthur’s. Dd is 4 and has one of each in her class of 20 ish. At a baby group we went to 4 out of 10 babies were arlo 😳.

Jago is a nice (pronounced Jay-go) and more unusual mash up of James and arlo, I know 2. I think it’s Cornish.

PLEASE don't fall into the 'we love this name but need a nickname' trap! A nick name is an 'alternate' name, not a shortening of the original name. Nicknames are names that bear no resemblence to the actual name, so Arlo's nickname might be Cuddlebum, Poochy, The Crawler, Boozie, etc.

He might be called Arlie or Lo for short.

If Arlo was a colour it would be Ecru beige, like the brand of clothing Adanola. Perfect for the Stanley carrying brigade

I'd literally never heard of this name until about ten years ago. I didn't know a single Arlo when I was growing up. It's a nice name but, yeah, I do think it is in "fad name" territory.

I think there are fewer 'timeless' names as well than people realise.
The classic ones tend not to appear dreadful when no longer fashionable.
There were very few called Arthur, George or Jack my age, because tthey were granddad names but the names came back soon afterwards.