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.

Well I like it. Good tie up with saints day, easy to say and spell. Its a shame dp isn't keen though.

It made me think of afternoon too, but it’s not exactly the worst association is it? Afternoons are often nice and I don’t think of them as offensive! With the Finnish history I think Arvo is nice. Arlo is nice too but surprisingly popular.

I thought of afternoon at first as well, but the more I think of it the more like it. It would work well as a name for sure.

I live in London and have never heard anyone say this for afternoon. Must depend where you live.

I'd think 'afternoon' as well. Go with Arlo, it's lovely!

It sounds like medication for worms.

I misread it as Avro and immediately thought Avro Lancaster, the WwII bomber.

I didn't think Afternoon.

I actually quite it. I like it more than Arlo.

Oh, Arlo would be such a boring choice after this thread! Aaro is lovely! And you could buy him an aardvark as his first teddy.

I think it would be a shame to not include your Finnish heritage OP. Apparently (although who knows with t'interweb) it means 'of the mountains'.

I think Arvo is nice, perfectly easy for people to pick up on.

Arlo is SO common, so very very common - literally every baby or toddler group I’ve been to has one. Depends if this bothers you or not..

@MyHusbandTheIdiot

I think Arvo is nice, perfectly easy for people to pick up on.

Arlo is SO common, so very very common - literally every baby or toddler group I’ve been to has one. Depends if this bothers you or not..

I know 🙈 We wanted a name that WASN'T uber common and we haven't heard of many Arlos (we don't have many small kids in our group of friends), it was when Arlo Parks was on the radio on our way to an early scan that I thought that's a nice name - that was to be my first of two miscarriages so over two years ago. Then right after we chose it when this pregnancy seemed to be going the distance I noticed it's been steadily rising on the popularity charts about to break into the top 20.

Where I’m from, ‘arvo’ is slang for ‘afternoon’. I wouldn’t chose it for this reason, but in other parts of the UK I doubt it would matter at all. My inlaws wouldn’t have a clue what arvo means, for example!

I would say 'this arvo' for 'this afternoon'.

I think Arvo is great - much better then Arlo (which is v common at the moment).

Very on trend with all the Milo Arlo Archie Arvo Alfie Teddy Freddy Eddy Theo Leo sweet boyish names that are oh so popular today.

I think in a couple we will be seeing a lot more baby Johns and Richards..etc. perhaps

Is the R in Arvo supposed to be rhotic?

Or will it end up like Orla on the lips of many English people - 'Awla'.

Would you be ok with a pronunciation such as 'Aahvo'?

People saying the shortening for afternoon is arvo clearly have non-rhotic accents.

Arvo cardo

That will be his nickname at school.

I think it's nicer than Arlo which always make me think of milk.

I don't hate it as a name but does make me think of DARVO and parvo virus

Awful....trying too hardo

@ronjobbins

Awful....trying too hardo

How's that then? It's a completely normal name in my culture.

@TheAbbotOfUnreason

Would Aro work?

Plenty of people will also know Finnish names like Juha, Ari, Mika, Harri, Mikko, Timo, Tommi, Hannu etc from motor sports.

I was thinking along these lines too and going to suggest Mika

OP, I prefer Aaro to Arvo, and I think I would have pronounced it correctly. I'm Irish though, not British.

Wrt 'trying too hardo', @GinnyBee, unfortunately you sometimes encounter people with what might be termed 'limited horizons' here.

Hi another Finn here :) Welcome to the struggle that is trying to find a name that works in both languages. It is so hard. I love Arvo and Aaro, but clearly might not work so well in England based on this threat. 🙈

I can share with you our vetted list of Finnish boy names that we thought worked in both languages:

Otso
Toivo
Alvar
Eino
Elias
Onni
Reino
Edvin
Ruben
Sisu

Tietty joku löytää näistäkin jotain pahaa mutta kannattaa vaan ignoorata. Tsemppiä!