How to say it
AR · lo
/ˈɑr.loʊ/
Masculine
Arlo
Fortified hill, or 'between two highlands'
What it means
Possibly from an Old English root meaning 'fortified hill' (related to herel 'army' + dun 'hill'), or from an Old Irish ardlach ('between two highlands') filtered through Spenser's Faerie Queene. Arlo Guthrie's Alice's Restaurant (1967) gave it folk-music anchor.
Arlo's etymology is contested. The most common reading is Old English, with arlo meaning 'fortified hill' (from herel 'army' + lēah 'meadow' or from an obscure place-name root). An alternative traces it to the Old Irish ardlach ('between two highlands') via Edmund Spenser's Faerie Queene (1590), where Arlo Hill is a setting. Arlo Guthrie (Woody's son), the folk singer who wrote Alice's Restaurant (1967), gave the name its strongest 20th-century cultural anchor. The first-name surge is modern: rare before 2010, then climbing fast. It entered the US top 200 in 2020. Single short forms aren't common.
Popularity over time
peaked at #146 in 2024, currently #148 in 2025.
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, names given to at least 5 babies in a year, 1880–present. See where the names are moving
Heads-up notes
- Pop culture
Arlo Guthrie (Woody Guthrie's son, the 18-minute Alice's Restaurant Thanksgiving classic) is the dominant English-language anchor.
Who's worn it
Historical figures, characters, and public faces who share the name. The cultural surface, for whatever weight you want to give it.
- Arlo Guthrie American folk singer-songwriter, Alice's Restaurant
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