Head to head · Girls' names
Harlow vs Tessa
#309 vs #311 in 2025 · both holding its place on the charts
Harlow is a whisker ahead (#309 vs #311 in 2025) and both are holding its place on the charts. The records will not split these two — sound, story and your own last name will.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
The tale of the tape
The tape is even: Harlow and Tessa each lead 3 measures of 6.
Ranks, counts and years are measured in the official US birth record; the classroom and living figures are estimates computed from it. The dot marks the side each measure favours on the charts — more common, not better.
What the records say
146 years of US births, drawn on one scale
Two curves, one scale
Who owned which decade
- 1890s: Harlow —, Tessa #1310 — Tessa higher
- 1900s: Harlow —, Tessa #1905 — Tessa higher
- 1910s: Harlow —, Tessa #3558 — Tessa higher
- 1920s: Harlow —, Tessa #4376 — Tessa higher
- 1930s: Harlow —, Tessa #4049 — Tessa higher
- 1940s: Harlow —, Tessa #1919 — Tessa higher
- 1950s: Harlow —, Tessa #2951 — Tessa higher
- 1960s: Harlow —, Tessa #1364 — Tessa higher
- 1970s: Harlow —, Tessa #594 — Tessa higher
- 1980s: Harlow —, Tessa #377 — Tessa higher
- 1990s: Harlow —, Tessa #240 — Tessa higher
- 2000s: Harlow #7123, Tessa #254 — Tessa higher
- 2010s: Harlow #495, Tessa #234 — Tessa higher
- 2020s: Harlow #277, Tessa #306 — Harlow higher
Tessa stood higher in 13 of 14 decades; Harlow took the 2020s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Harlow | Tessa |
|---|---|---|
| 1890s | — | #1310 |
| 1900s | — | #1905 |
| 1910s | — | #3558 |
| 1920s | — | #4376 |
| 1930s | — | #4049 |
| 1940s | — | #1919 |
| 1950s | — | #2951 |
| 1960s | — | #1364 |
| 1970s | — | #594 |
| 1980s | — | #377 |
| 1990s | — | #240 |
| 2000s | #7123 | #254 |
| 2010s | #495 | #234 |
| 2020s | #277 | #306 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Harlow
from an Old English place name combining hlāw, "hill" or "burial mound", with a first element that is still argued over
The second half is not in doubt: hlāw, an Old English word for a hill or a burial mound. The first half is read two ways — either hearg, a heathen temple or shrine, giving "temple mound", or here, "army", giving "army hill". Both are serious readings of the early spellings of Harlow in Essex, and neither has won.
Herlawe (recorded Essex place name) → Harlow (English place name) → Harlow (English surname) → Harlow (given name)
How it traveled
Harlow is a place before it is a person: a settlement in Essex recorded in early medieval documents, joined later by Harlow Hill in Northumberland. Families who came from those places took the name with them, so Harlow became an English surname, and from there — as English surnames reliably do — it crossed over into use as a first name.
Tessa
Unsettled — through Teresa, read variously as 'summer', 'harvester', or a name from the Greek island Therasia
Tessa's meaning is Teresa's meaning, and Teresa's root has never been agreed on. The serious candidates are Greek theros, 'summer'; therizein, 'to harvest'; and the island name Therasia, borne by a fourth-century Roman woman, Therasia. Each has scholarly support and none has won. That leaves Tessa in good company — some of the oldest European names are exactly this open.
Therasia → Teresa → Theresa → Tess → Tessa
How it traveled
The line runs back through Teresa, a name that spread from the Iberian peninsula across Catholic Europe and became one of the great international names of the Church. English speakers clipped it to Tess, then extended that clip back out to Tessa, and by the nineteenth century Tessa was being recorded as a name given at birth rather than a household shortening.
Where a reading is contested the note says so — this page does not turn a guess into a fact. The chain is each name's recorded forms, oldest first; the story is its opening, told in full on the name's own page.
Out loud, and in short
Harlow
HAR-loh
Two syllables, stress on the first: HAR as in "car", then "low". English speakers read it correctly on sight, and it survives the trip into most other languages without much damage.
- Lo — The most common informal short form; used at home rather than on paper.
- Harls — Playground and family shortening, informal only.
- Har — Heard occasionally as a casual clip among friends.
Tessa
TESS-uh
Stress on the first syllable. One pronunciation everywhere in English, and near-identical in Dutch and German.
- Tess — The most common short form, and a standard given name on its own in English-speaking countries.
- Tessie — Informal and affectionate; long-established, and still strongly associated with older generations.
- Tee — Casual, spoken rather than written; used within families and among friends.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Harlow if you want…
- a name on the way upup 15 places on the charts in five years
Choose Tessa if you want…
- a name holding steadyTessa is holding its place on the charts
Each line is a measured difference between the two names — a rank, a count, a recorded form — never a judgement of either. Save the one that answers your question; it lands on your shortlist.
The trade-offs, name by name
Harlow
Strengths
- Reads exactly as it is spelled — most people get both the pronunciation and the spelling right on the first attempt.
- Already familiar as an English surname and place name, so it looks like a real word rather than an invention.
- Two syllables with the stress up front, which sits easily beside most one- and three-syllable middle names.
To consider
- Both boys and girls carry this spelling, but girls are the clear majority in American records. A boy named Harlow will meet forms and teachers that assume otherwise — manageable, but worth knowing in advance.
- Harlowe is a real alternative spelling, so expect to confirm which one you mean. Harley is close enough in sound that it will be substituted sometimes too.
- The surname carries a strong Hollywood association through the actress Jean Harlow, which some families like and others would rather avoid.
Tessa
Strengths
- Spelled the way it sounds, with no competing variant to correct — people write it correctly on the first try.
- Comes with a ready-made short form, Tess, that is itself a full name in English.
- In use in American records since the nineteenth century, with no long gap and no sudden fashion spike.
To consider
- It is already brief, so nickname options are narrow: Tess, Tessie, and not much else. If you like a name with several distinct routes, this one offers a short list.
- Hardy's Tess of the d'Urbervilles is widely taught in schools, and it is a tragic novel. The association is literary rather than unpleasant, but some readers will make it.
- Because it started as a pet form, people occasionally assume it is short for Theresa and ask for the longer version. A one-word answer settles it.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
With your last name
Say both in full. The notes are facts about letters and sound — a rhyme, a shared initial, the monogram — not a verdict on either name.
Type a last name to hear Harlow and Tessa in full.
Weighing the whole shortlist? Run the full comparison — up to eight names with your last name, initials, classroom projections and a printable report.
Decide together
Nobody names a baby alone
Still torn between Harlow and Tessa?
Put both to the vote.
One link to your partner, your parents, your sister. Each of them gets the two names, a one-tap answer and room to say why — and every reply lands in one place.
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More than two in the running? Settle it with a bracket or run the full comparison with your last name.
More head-to-heads
Same measures, different pair. Sixty more are dealt daily in the arena.
Lists that carry both names
Every list here names both Harlow and Tessa — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Harlow or Tessa — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Harlow or Tessa?
- Harlow, in 2025: Harlow ranked #309 with 981 babies; Tessa ranked #311 with 978 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Harlow or Tessa?
- Harlow. Over the last five years Harlow moved up 15 places; Tessa moved down 31 places.
- Which is the older name, Harlow or Tessa?
- Harlow entered the US charts in 2002; Tessa entered the US charts in 1891. On the American record, Tessa is the older name.
- How many people are named Harlow and Tessa?
- About 14,000 people named Harlow are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 55,000 people named Tessa are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Harlows or Tessas in the classroom?
- Harlow will almost certainly be the only one in school. Tessa will almost certainly be the only one in school.
US figures from the Social Security Administration, 1880–2025. Votes are battle voters on this site, not the birth record. Data & methodology
Keep playing
Sixty more head-to-heads are dealt in the arena every day — or line up Harlow, Tessa and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
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