Barrows
A name most likely taken from someone who lived by a barrow, hill, or burial mound.
The #4,561 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 39,720 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Barrows is usually understood as a habitational or topographic surname built from Middle English barrow, meaning a hill, mound, or burial barrow. The word goes back to Old English beorg, "hill, mound, tomb," and in some place-names may also relate to a grove or wooded rise. In surname use, it would have identified someone who lived near such a feature or came from a place called Barrow.
History
English records show Barrow and Barrows as related surname forms, with Barrow often treated as the base form and Barrows as a later or possessive-looking variant. The name is especially associated with English place-names, and later appears in North America through migration from Britain. Spelling variation was common, so Barrow, Barrows, and similar forms could overlap in historical records.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The same root behind Barrows also survives in the modern English word "barrow" for a burial mound or earthwork.
From the historical record
“LoodoB, 5 ; Philadelphia, 13. Barrow, Barrows.— Local, ' of the barrow/ a long low hill or mound, ggn. barrows; cf. Bor- roughs and Borrough. Walter de la Barowe, C R., 14 Edw.”
— A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames (alternate scan)