Arlo

Meaning uncertain

Used as a boys’ name in English, Arlo has no securely established meaning. One intriguing possibility leads to Arlo Hill in Edmund Spenser’s The Faerie Queene. That poetic landscape has been linked to the area around Aherlow in Ireland, though a direct path from the literary place to the personal name remains unproven. Arlo has a generous sound for such a short name. Its broad opening gives way to an l and a rounded final vowel, making the two syllables feel gentle and unhurried. The uncluttered spelling has a contemporary feel, while the full opening syllable gives it a little weight. In English, the stress falls on the first syllable; the r is heard in the American pronunciation but not in the cited British one.

Etymology: Arlo is used as an English given name. One proposed source is Arlo Hill in Edmund Spenser’s The Faerie Queene, a literary place associated with Aherlow in Ireland. The route from that place name to the given name has not been established.