Barlow
A habitational surname meaning “from Barlow,” originally taken from places in Derbyshire, Lancashire, and Yorkshire.
The #1,047 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 9,262 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Barlow is a place-name surname, originally meaning someone who came from a place called Barlow. The place-name is generally explained from Old English elements, usually taken as beorg or beorh meaning “hill” plus hlāw meaning “mound” or “hill,” giving the sense of a raised or hilly place. Early surname writers also treated it simply as a local surname from Barlow near Manchester and other Barlow place-names in England.
History
The surname was established in several English counties, especially Lancashire, Derbyshire, and Yorkshire, and later spread widely beyond its original local centers. Nineteenth-century surname writers noted that Lancashire Barlows could be traced to Barlow Hale and Barlow Moor near Manchester. It is now common in Britain and the United States.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Bardsley noted that the name had “ramified in an extraordinary manner,” reflecting how a surname from a small place could spread widely over time.
From the historical record
“no connexion with Alberslon ; 1790. MnrriEd-Jama Barlow and lane AlbctKa : Si. Geo. Han. Sq. ti. 40. With this variant cf. Patteraon for Pattinson.”
— A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames, with special American instances