BARLOW
The surname Barlow is an English name that originated in the British Isles.
Its earliest form can be traced to Old English, where it appears to be derived from the words beorg meaning “hill” and hlaw meaning “mound” or “burial mound.” Consequently the name was originally used to identify a person who lived near or on a hill or burial mound. Other scholars point out that it may also be derived from a locational habitational source, describing a habitation on a hill where barley grew, as shown by the element bere in certain place‑names.
The habitational origin of the name is well documented in several settlements that bear the name Barlow in England. In the West Riding of Yorkshire the earliest record is the entry “Bernlege” in the early Yorkshire charters of 1030, which evolved into “Berlai” in the Domesday Book of 1086. The form used for the Lancashire location in the 1260 Assize Court Rolls is “Berlawe,” a compound of bere and hlaw meaning “barley hill.” In Derbyshire the 1086 Domesday entry “Barleie” is recorded as a combination of the Old English word for boar (bar) and leah meaning a clearing in a wood.
Locational surnames were normally adopted when a former inhabitant of a place moved to another area, often to seek work, and was identified by the name of his birthplace. This pattern is evident in the documentation of the Barlow name. A record for a person named Johannes de Berlowe appears in the Yorkshire poll‑tax rolls of 1379, and a later entry for Thomas Barlow of Derbyshire is found in the Oxford University register in 1584. The very first known spelling of the family name is that of Thomas de Barlowe, dated 1260 and witnesses in the “Assize Court Rolls of Lancashire” during the reign of King Henry II, who reigned from 1216 to 1272.
The surname remains in use to this day and continues to be linked with the ancient places of Barlow in the English counties of Derbyshire, Lancashire and the former West Riding of Yorkshire. Its survival in modern times is a testament to the long history of English surname development based on geographical features and settlements.
Typical given names associated with the Barlow surname
Male
- Andrew
- Christopher
- David
- James
- John
- Michael
- Paul
- Peter
- Robert
- Stephen
Female
- Elizabeth
- Emma
- Helen
- Janet
- Joanne
- Julie
- Margaret
- Mary
- Nicola
- Patricia
- Sarah
- Susan
Similar and related surnames
Related and similar names are generated algorithmically based on the spelling, and may not necessarily share an etymology.
How to communicate the surname Barlow in...
Braille
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Morse
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Semaphore
Did you know?
According to a survey carried out by Democracy Club, politicians and candidates with the surname Barlow are most likely to say that their favourite biscuit is a Chocolate Digestive.
There are approximately 25,308 people named Barlow in the UK. That makes it the 319th most common surname in Britain. Around 389 in a million people in Britain are named Barlow.
Origin: English
Region of origin: British Isles
Country of origin: England
Religion of origin: Christian
Language of origin: English
Famous people named Barlow
- Gary Barlow - Musician
- Stephen Barlow - Musician
- Barriemore Barlow - Musician
- Aidan Barlow - Football player
- Thelma Barlow - Actress
- Helena Barlow - Actress
- Alice Barlow - Actress
- Patrick Barlow - Comedian
- Frank Barlow - Historian (1911 to 2009)
- Tim Barlow - Actor
- Nora Barlow - Granddaughter of the British naturalist Charles Darwin (1885 to 1989)
- Phyllida Barlow - Artist
- Clarence Barlow - International composer
- Stuart Barlow - Football player
- Harold Barlow - Engineer (1899 to 1989)
- Horace Barlow - Visual neuroscientist
- Sir Thomas Barlow, 1st Baronet - Doctor (1845 to 1945)
- Frank Barlow - Football player and manager
- Peter Barlow - Mathematician and physicist (1776 to 1862)
- Iman Barlow - Boxer
Names and descriptions courtesy of Wikipedia, and may contain errors. This is not intended to be an exhaustive list of every famous person with this name.