A COUPLE gave their baby a soon-to-be extinct name despite trolls claiming he’ll be bullied at school.
Casey Hennessy, 21, and her partner, Zacchaeus Harper, 25, have always been fans of more traditional names.
When they found out they were expecting a baby boy, they floated the names Winston, Axel, and Finnegan but only one name came out on top.
Casey gave birth to little Arnold on December 9, 2023, weighing eight pounds three ounces.
She said as soon as she looked down at him she knew he was an Arnold.
The couple are delighted to have a unique name and hope people will dub him Arnie after Arnold Schwarzenegger.
“I like the idea of him having a traditional name – it will sound smart,”said Casey, a health care assistant from East Sussex.
“We do shorten his name his Arnie to make him sound more youthful.
“We both like our traditional names.
“People refer to him as Arnold Schwarzenegger and Hey Arnold as well.”
Casey gave birth to her first child Maggie, two, on the April 28, 2022.
When she found out she was expected her second child in March 2023, she decided she wanted to give him a traditional moniker.
“We both like our traditional names and it was so hard to come up with a boy’s names,” Casey said.
“I like the fact that they are actual names, and they can grow into that name and have nicknames.
“I also wanted him to be the only Arnold in his class.”
The name Arnold looks set to go extinct alongside many other vintage names.
Casey explained that she had been weighing up other name options but knew Arnold was the one after giving birth.
Babycentre shared the list of baby names that saw a significant decline between 2022 and 2023, leading to them becoming endangered in 2024.
Boys:
Girls:
“He could’ve been a Winston, Murphy, or even an Axel, which are the sort of names we liked but as soon as I saw him I knew he was an Arnold,” she said.
“None of the names suited him, I instantly just knew, and it felt right.”
Since Arnold was born, Casey said she gets mixed reviews from people.
She said the older generation like the name while younger people can be more sceptical.
“The older generation love it, but it differs with the younger people,” she said.
“I have got comments where people said that he will get bullied because of his name, which I hope will not be the case.
“We do call him Arnie for short but overall we love his name.
“The older generation do say how ‘lovely’ the name is and how they haven’t heard it in a while.”
