boy's name
Arlo
AR-loh
- Origin Disputed
- Gender Boy
- Letters 4
- Popularity Top 100 (E&W)
- Births on record 51,685
the United States
#148
2025 births
Arlo is a name whose origin is genuinely unsettled. Sources variously derive it from an Irish place name, an English surname meaning "fortified hill," or an invention by the poet Edmund Spenser — and no single account has the evidence to displace the others.
- Arlo is a name of Disputed origin.
- Peaked in US records in 2024, when 2,574 babies were given the name.
- It has been rising over the past decade in US records.
- Today about 1 in 252 babies in England and Wales is given this name.
- First appears in US birth records in 1899.
Arlo over time
Births per decade in the United States, 1890s to 2020s. Arlo is more popular in England and Wales — see the country table below. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2025, not a full ten years.
Show the numbers
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 1890s | 5 |
| 1900s | 35 |
| 1910s | 477 |
| 1920s | 731 |
| 1930s | 700 |
| 1940s | 422 |
| 1950s | 282 |
| 1960s | 134 |
| 1970s | 376 |
| 1980s | 254 |
| 1990s | 211 |
| 2000s | 700 |
| 2010s | 7,122 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 13,686 |
What Arlo means
Arlo has no agreed meaning. The three accounts in circulation give "between two highlands," "fortified hill," and no meaning at all, and each rests on different evidence.
Where Arlo comes from
The three explanations run as follows. First, Edmund Spenser coined Arlo Hill in The Faerie Queene around 1590 for a place in County Cork, and this is usually taken as an anagram or adaptation of the Irish Aherlow, from eatharlach, meaning the land between two highlands — Spenser lived at Kilcolman near the Glen of Aherlow. Second, Arlo is read as a variant of the English surname Harlow, from haer, army or rock, and hlaw, hill or mound, giving army hill or fortified hill. Third, some sources treat Arlo as an Italian or Spanish form of Charles or Carlo, which has almost no documentary support and appears to be a modern back-formation from the sound. The Spenser route is the best documented, but it explains the place name rather than the personal name, and how Arlo became a first name in twentieth-century America is not recorded.
Arlo in use
The name's modern life owes most to Arlo Guthrie, born 1947 to Woody Guthrie, whose own name choice has never been explained. Our records show Arlo present in United States data as far back as 1899, which weakens any theory relying on a recent coinage. It now sits at 15 in England and Wales against 148 in the United States, and peaked in 2024 with both markets still rising.
How popular is Arlo?
In 2025, Arlo was given to 2,091 babies in England and Wales, ranking #15 that year. It is one of the most popular names in England and Wales.
Where Arlo is used
England and Wales figures withhold any name given to fewer than three babies in a year. The historical chart above uses US records, the only series running back to 1880. Data & sources.
Names that peaked alongside Arlo
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Arlo also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Arlo over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
1 nickname for Arlo
Each one is a name in its own right — the figure underneath is how it is doing today, so you can see which short forms are rising and which have faded.
Arlo in other languages
The same name as it is spelled elsewhere — not shortenings, and not different names that merely sound alike. Each one has its own record here.
Sibling names for Arlo
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Arlo — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Arlo
What does the name Arlo mean?
There is no agreed meaning. The main candidates are "between two highlands," from the Irish Aherlow, and "fortified hill," from the English surname Harlow.
Is Arlo an Irish name?
Possibly. Edmund Spenser's Arlo Hill in The Faerie Queene is generally read as an adaptation of the Irish Aherlow, but that accounts for a place name, not a first name.
Why do sources disagree about Arlo?
Because the name has no continuous documented history. It appears in our United States records from 1899 with no recorded explanation, leaving later writers to reason backwards from the sound.
How popular is the name Arlo?
In 2025, Arlo was given to 2,091 babies in England and Wales, ranking #15 that year. It is one of the most popular names in England and Wales.
Is Arlo a girl's or a boy's name?
Arlo is given almost entirely to boys in birth records.
When was Arlo most popular?
Arlo peaked in 2024, when 2,574 babies were given the name. It has been rising over the past decade.
What are the nicknames for Arlo?
Arlo is usually shortened to Ar.
Is Arlo a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Arlo currently ranks #15 in the United States. It has been rising over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.