Harlow

Meaning & origin●

Languages●

Language is read off each record's context, not declared by the bearer; a share is of all records for this spelling.

Other recorded senses●

Harlow is also recorded in 4 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• In English, from Harlow (Essex) or Harlow Hill (Northumberland, West Riding of Yorkshire); first attested Osbern, Thomas de Herlaue 1121–8 Bury, 1205 Pl (Herts)

  as a name·A Dictionary of English Surnames

• In English, places so called. One in W Yorks, probably gets its name from OE hcer rock, heap of stones + hldw hill (see Law 2 and Low i); those in Essex and Northumb. have here army as the first element, perhaps in the sense ‘host’, ‘as¬ sembly’. Harran see Heron

  as a name·The Oxford Names Companion - The definitive guide to Surnames, First Names, and Place Names of the British Isles

• In English, 1. habitational name from any of various places called Harlow. One in West Yorkshire is probably named from Old English hcer ‘rock’, ‘heap of stones’ + hldw ‘mound’, ‘hill’; those in Essex and Northumberland have Old English here ‘army’ as the first element, perhaps in the sense ‘host’, ‘assembly’. 2. There is also a record of this name as a variant of Cornish Penhollow.

  as a name·Dictionary of American Family Names

• Collina rocciosa

  as a name·Il grande libro dei nomi per bebè. Significato, origini, curiosità. Oltre 7000 nomi per bambine e bambini Significato,…

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

Over time●

US SSA — National Baby Names (1880–present) — 104 years between 1882–2025. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• George Henry Harlowb. 1787GBBritish artist (1787-1819)
• Harry Frederick Harlowb. 1905USAmerican psychologist (1905–1981)
• Jean Harlowb. 1911USAmerican film actress (1911–1937)
• Honey Harlowb. 1927USAmerican exotic dancer (1927–2005)
• Larry Harlowb. 1939USAmerican musician (1939–2021)
• Shalom Harlowb. 1973CACanadian model and actress
• Kristi Mystb. 1973USnot in their usual nameAmerican pornographic actress
• Poppy Harlowb. 1982USAmerican journalist
• Eve Harlowb. 1989RUUSSR-born Canadian actress
• Winnie Harlowb. 1994CAJamaican-Canadian fashion model

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

Evidence●

Register rows as of the 2026-09-12 data build · 320 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Harlow?

Our records include 115,785 bearers of Harlow across 5 countries — a sample of the full distribution.

In which country does Harlow have the most bearers?

Harlow is most frequently recorded in the United States.

What does the name Harlow mean?

Recorded meaning: ‘Person from Harlow’, a place name meaning either ‘mound associated with an army’ or ‘rocky hill’.