Thoughts on Arvo?

[GinnyBee]

I'm due to have a baby boy in May, first baby for both of us. I'm originally Finnish and my husband is English and when we started listing names we liked, we were trying to find one that would hint at his Nordic heritage but wouldn't be too out of place or impossible to spell or pronounce in England since that's where we live.

We couldn't find many options that we both liked and settled on Arlo - nice name, but there's really nothing Finnish about it. Its origins are Anglo-Saxon or Old English.

I've just been out for a walk with my dog and remembered the name Arvo, which is completely Finnish, and thought maybe that could work? But before I suggest it to hubby I wanted some opinions as I don't always hear it if it sounds odd in English, since to me it's just a normal name, but native English speakers may find it sounds like another word that would be confusing.

It sounds like a shortening of "afternoon"

@Winterfellismyhome

It sounds like a shortening of "afternoon"

Is that used in the UK much? I know it definitely is in Australia.

But good point.

I was going to say the same. Arvo is short for Afternoon in part of the uk

It's nice as a name, but people do often use Arvo as a short word for the afternoon. This may bother you or it may not!

Near me is a roundabout called Avro Anson roundabout...

I think it's fine. In Australia, Arvo is slang for afternoon but not in the UK as far as I know. And it wouldn't matter anyway. I think it would be a nice name.

It's a shortening of afternoon in Australia. Not a huge fan as a name.

I think it would be a nice name too. Might think 'Oh, like afternoon' the first time but after that would just be his name.

I prefer Arlo.

I didn't realise the topic was baby names when I saw the thread title and thought that you were asking on my thoughts about the word 'arvo', as in short for afternoon. Make of that what you will 😬

I think it won't work so well in Britain.

I know a Finnish Albert. That works just about everywhere.

I'm in the Uk and it's definitely used as an abbreviation of afternoon here (west country)

Makes me think of the composer Arvo Part, but that’s a bit niche. I like the name but I think confusion with Arlo is likely…

Thanks everyone! I'll have another ponder. Just happens that we've booked 3rd July for his naming ceremony and it's Arvo's name day in the Finnish calendar 🙃 But it may not work too well in the UK, and I wouldn't want to burden him with a silly name or something he always has to spell out like I have to with mine.

Makes me think of excellent Estonian composer Arvo Pärt - a good person to be named after!

Makes me think of DARVO

Musician friends were considering the name Arvo, but opted for Arlo.

I thought Arvada was an energy company (I could be imagining this)

My first thought was that it was the name of an energy company (that has now gone bust).

Makes me think of ASBO. Sorry.

Arvo is not great, to be honest. Neither is Arlo.

I like it. Also thought of Arvo Part. Makes a nice change from Arlo , and nice that it reflects his cultural heritage.

I think it is nice.
It reflects your Finnish heritage, which is particularly nice if he is to grow up in the UK. However, it is easy to spell and easy to say if you see it written down, so makes it easy for all of us that aren't linguistics students and means he won't be correcting people all the time or constantly having it spelled wrong

It immediately made me think of parvo virus 🤷🏼‍♀️

And I thought of Arvo Part too, which is a good thing