hey all! i love the name [name_m]arthur[/name_m] — i love its meaning, and i love that it’s my dad’s name. the thing is, though, my dad hates it. he has always gone by his middle name because of that, and he is insistent that my child will hate it too. i’ve strongly considered it as a first name (my signature needs updating), but because of my dad’s feelings and because we’re jewish and there’s all sorts of bad juju associated with using a living person’s name for a baby, i’m waffling. not that it’s currently relevant, but just out of curiosity, what would you suggest i do?
a middle i’ve considered with [name_m]arthur[/name_m] is [name_m]monroe[/name_m], which was my grandfather’s middle name (his first name was bloice, which is not an option), and if you mash those two together you sort of get [name_m]arlo[/name_m]? nameberry doesn’t list a known origin or meaning for [name_m]arlo[/name_m], which is relatively important to me, but do you guys think arlo is a possible derivation for arthur? any other ideas?
It’s your dad’s name and if he’d rather you didn’t use it, unfortunately I think you have to respect that, especially if it has bad omens!
I was going to suggest [name_m]Theodore[/name_m] or [name_m]Bear[/name_m], but I see you’ve already got those in your sig! I love [name_m]Arthur[/name_m] too, but unfortunately it’s gaining a lot of popularity ([name_m]Theodore[/name_m] too) so it’s out for me. [name_m]How[/name_m] about [name_m]Archer[/name_m]? It has a similar sound but a more modern feel.
[name_m]How[/name_m] about [name_u]Artis[/name_u]? Looks like it’s a Scottish and/or Czech version of [name_m]Arthur[/name_m], but feels very modern and updated to me. Looks like [name_m]Arto[/name_m] is Finnish, which has a similar feel to [name_u]Arlo[/name_u]. I do like [name_u]Arlo[/name_u] a lot as well, but am also bothered by the lack of history.
[name_u]Arlo[/name_u] is a great alternative, and yes, it does sound a lot like [name_m]Arthur[/name_m] and [name_u]Monroe[/name_u] mashed up! Another one would be [name_m]Arrow[/name_m]. I love the suggestion of [name_m]Archer[/name_m]. Other possibilities could be [name_u]Adair[/name_u], [name_m]Artie[/name_m] or even [name_m]Author[/name_m].
You might consider Arthyen or Arthek. They’re obscure Cornish names that derive from the same artho element as [name_m]Arthur[/name_m] (most likely does). Arthen is the Welsh form of Arthyen, which might be a bit more accessible? [name_u]Arlo[/name_u] works too, though. I didn’t realize that it’s etymology is unknown. For some reason I always thought it was Germanic.
[name_m]Arthur[/name_m] is my first choice for a boy, but I think [name_u]Arlo[/name_u] is a nice alternative!
The most likely origin I discovered for [name_u]Arlo[/name_u] is that it is a fictional place name ([name_u]Arlo[/name_u] [name_m]Hill[/name_m]) invented by 16th century Elizabethan poet Sir [name_m]Edmund[/name_m] [name_u]Spenser[/name_u] for his epic “The Faerie Queene.” It was based on a real place, the [name_u]Glen[/name_u] of Aherlow, which is Gaelic for “between two highlands.”