We had a sign today- just after we put Zach down for his nap, “Alice’s Restaurant” came on the radio. All 18minutes and 20 seconds of it. We’ve been toying with naming the baby Arlo since Joe went to an Arlo Guthrie concert before we were married. My initial reaction to naming my offspring Arlo was “No NO NOOO!” but the name really grows on you after a while.
Our friends and family have had pretty varied reactions to our choice. My favorites so far are from my Dad (sorry Dad, but this needs to be recorded for posterity) who simply said “We’ll find something else to call him” and someone at work who said “Well, I might name my dog that, but not my child”. “Oh” and “Huh” have been some other common responses as people try to mask their surprise about our choice. (Joe wants me to mention that we have had many positive and supportive responses as well, those just haven’t been as memorable!)
I decided to use naptime today to research the name a little more since I’m going to subject my child to such an unusual name. Arlo means “hill” in German (not very exciting) and “strong, brave, courageous one” in Greek (think I’ll go with that meaning). It was most popular in the early 1920s and now is the 2671st most popular name in America. That is pretty far down there, but I’m just relieved it has a number! That means other people are naming their son Arlo too!
Oh, little baby, I hope you don’t mind someday that we gave you such a funky name. Mostly you can blame your father, ok?
4 comments
Comments feed for this article
June 23, 2008 at 3:29 pm
Carrie
I may have fallen into the category of a “huh” responder at first, but Arlo has really grown on me. I dig it, and he will too.
I love the new header up there, it must really be summer now!
Let me know if you need anything while the wait continues for little A!
June 24, 2008 at 4:02 pm
Fran aka Redondowriter
Well, my initial internal response was, “Hmmm.” My boss named her son Ansel and then there’s Fritz. I had the same response when I learned of those names. Like Carrie, the name Arlo is growing on me. No hope for Dominic I guess.
This link was interesting to me: http://sweetgrasstraditions.tripod.com/customs.html
Hope you are well as can be expected at this point. That picture of Zachary with writing on his tummy is priceless.
June 24, 2008 at 8:10 pm
Michele
19 years ago we named our daughter Maddie, short for Madeline. At times she wanted a normal name, until her name started to become popular. She likes being original. I think Arlo is one of those names that will be making a comeback. Wait and see. It’s a great name. Congrats
June 25, 2008 at 9:42 pm
Nils
Don’t worry about naming him “Arlo.” It’s unique, a good name, unusual, with no downside. I have survived just fine with the name my parents gave me, which is more unusual, and harder for people to understand. Take it from someone who’s been there: life will go on; it’s ok!