Do the names of the args passed to main() matter

Question

I know that to use command line arguments in C you do something like this:

int main(int argc, char **argv)
{
//use argc and argv
}

Today I was thinking about it and I realized I have never not seen them called argc and argv. Is it a requirement that they are called this or is it just convention? If it is required why is this the case?

Could I do something like this:

int main(int length, char**myinput){
//use length as you would argc and myinput
// as you would argv
}

I haven't had a chance to write a program to test it out yet.

Answer 1

The C standard says that you can call them whatever you want.

5.1.2.2.1 Program startup

1 The function called at program startup is named main. The implementation declares no prototype for this function. It shall be defined with a return type of int and with no parameters:

int main(void) { /* ... */ }

or with two parameters (referred to here as argc and argv, though any names may be used, as they are local to the function in which they are declared): [..]

In What does int argc, char *argv[] mean?, answerer meager says that argc and argv are named so by convention (argument count and argument vector respectively).

Answer 2

It is just a convention, there is no requirement on the names. They are user-defined parameters like any other, so use whatever names you want.