Primarily a boy's name · 96% boys
Origin: EnglishArlo is a unisex given name. Some sources state it to be of Old English origin, meaning "endless energy"; it was first used by Edmund Spenser, who "evidently invented" it, as the name of a hill where the gods debate in his poem The Faerie Queene.
From Wikipedia
In Pythagorean numerology, every letter has a value from 1 to 9. Adding the letters of Arlo yields these three numbers — a playful read on the name's character.
Arlo has grown 379% across the decade and set records in 2024 on both count and rank, at 2,481 births and 146. Against that, its cumulative total is just 22,607 — one of the smallest figures anywhere in this batch, and evidence that the name barely existed in America before about 2010 despite being recorded from 1899. The single listed bearer is Arlo Guthrie, born 1947, whose fame peaked in the late sixties and who therefore cannot explain a rise that started forty years later. Short, ends in a vowel, no formal version required: Arlo shares its structure with Milo and Theo, and the whole group has moved together, which suggests the sound is doing the work rather than any person.
Why did you choose this name — or what does it mean to you? Approved stories appear on this page.
→ See names similar to Arlo · Compare Arlo with another name → · Popular names of the 2020s · Boys names starting with A
Rank is among all boys' names registered that year.
| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1899 | 5 | #1,058 |
| 1900 | 9 | #906 |
| 1905 | 5 | #1,243 |
| 1907 | 7 | #1,100 |
| 1908 | 6 | #1,224 |
| 1909 | 8 | #1,085 |
| 1910 | 13 | #865 |
| 1911 | 5 | #1,756 |
| 1912 | 26 | #877 |
| 1913 | 30 | #899 |
| 1914 | 45 | #789 |
| 1915 | 76 | #667 |
| 1916 | 66 | #750 |
| 1917 | 69 | #750 |
| 1918 | 81 | #700 |
| 1919 | 66 | #799 |
| 1920 | 82 | #718 |
| 1921 | 58 | #920 |
| 1922 | 76 | #759 |
| 1923 | 86 | #698 |
| 1924 | 67 | #823 |
| 1925 | 68 | #802 |
| 1926 | 63 | #831 |
| 1927 | 65 | #828 |
| 1928 | 78 | #722 |
| 1929 | 83 | #676 |
| 1930 | 61 | #832 |
| 1931 | 75 | #697 |
| 1932 | 77 | #703 |
| 1933 | 74 | #695 |
| 1934 | 66 | #751 |
| 1935 | 74 | #702 |
| 1936 | 64 | #756 |
| 1937 | 66 | #751 |
| 1938 | 70 | #730 |
| 1939 | 61 | #776 |
| 1940 | 49 | #904 |
| 1941 | 68 | #751 |
| 1942 | 45 | #991 |
| 1943 | 49 | #955 |
| 1944 | 43 | #991 |
| 1945 | 36 | #1,081 |
| 1946 | 30 | #1,279 |
| 1947 | 34 | #1,255 |
| 1948 | 43 | #1,081 |
| 1949 | 25 | #1,463 |
| 1950 | 35 | #1,221 |
| 1951 | 37 | #1,196 |
| 1952 | 34 | #1,268 |
| 1953 | 21 | #1,677 |
| 1954 | 29 | #1,410 |
| 1955 | 22 | #1,649 |
| 1956 | 21 | #1,724 |
| 1957 | 30 | #1,436 |
| 1958 | 28 | #1,485 |
| 1959 | 25 | #1,590 |
| 1960 | 18 | #1,912 |
| 1961 | 15 | #2,148 |
| 1962 | 22 | #1,713 |
| 1963 | 12 | #2,422 |
| 1964 | 13 | #2,315 |
| 1965 | 9 | #2,790 |
| 1966 | 13 | #2,223 |
| 1967 | 8 | #3,003 |
| 1968 | 7 | #3,385 |
| 1969 | 17 | #2,049 |
| 1970 | 33 | #1,463 |
| 1971 | 50 | #1,158 |
| 1972 | 46 | #1,211 |
| 1973 | 49 | #1,176 |
| 1974 | 29 | #1,661 |
| 1975 | 38 | #1,431 |
| 1976 | 36 | #1,506 |
| 1977 | 40 | #1,450 |
| 1978 | 37 | #1,540 |
| 1979 | 18 | #2,579 |
| 1980 | 35 | #1,658 |
| 1981 | 28 | #1,949 |
| 1982 | 18 | #2,600 |
| 1983 | 28 | #1,907 |
| 1984 | 18 | #2,617 |
| 1985 | 22 | #2,363 |
| 1986 | 29 | #2,012 |
| 1987 | 25 | #2,276 |
| 1988 | 25 | #2,373 |
| 1989 | 26 | #2,475 |
| 1990 | 28 | #2,436 |
| 1991 | 20 | #3,112 |
| 1992 | 13 | #4,341 |
| 1993 | 19 | #3,373 |
| 1994 | 18 | #3,602 |
| 1995 | 20 | #3,309 |
| 1996 | 21 | #3,300 |
| 1997 | 16 | #4,073 |
| 1998 | 30 | #2,714 |
| 1999 | 26 | #3,110 |
| 2000 | 37 | #2,530 |
| 2001 | 33 | #2,806 |
| 2002 | 41 | #2,430 |
| 2003 | 36 | #2,734 |
| 2004 | 58 | #2,051 |
| 2005 | 64 | #1,968 |
| 2006 | 73 | #1,857 |
| 2007 | 95 | #1,623 |
| 2008 | 101 | #1,572 |
| 2009 | 157 | #1,156 |
| 2010 | 184 | #1,048 |
| 2011 | 220 | #915 |
| 2012 | 274 | #811 |
| 2013 | 354 | #681 |
| 2014 | 518 | #537 |
| 2015 | 579 | #501 |
| 2016 | 977 | #349 |
| 2017 | 1,092 | #316 |
| 2018 | 1,267 | #277 |
| 2019 | 1,323 | #271 |
| 2020 | 1,700 | #220 |
| 2021 | 1,990 | #190 |
| 2022 | 2,220 | #169 |
| 2023 | 2,305 | #158 |
| 2024 | 2,481 | #146 |
