Harlow
Masculine
Harlow is given to both — 2,669 boys and 13,986 girls since 1880. See Harlow as a girl nameSee other names given to both
Harlow began as a patch of English ground — a hill in Essex written down as Herlawe long before anyone thought to give the word to a child. It traveled the usual English route, from place to family name to first name, and it still sounds like what it is: two plain syllables, the stress landing straight on the first.
How old is the name Harlow?
Harlow first appears in US birth records in 1882 — 143 years ago. The typical Harlow alive today was born around 1958, making them about 67 years old. About 1,500 people named Harlow are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Harlow most popular?
Harlow peaked in 1884, reaching #701 nationally. Today it ranks #1212, 511 places below that high. See the whole 1884 chart.
Harlow appears on these lists:
Where it comes from
From Herlawe (recorded Essex place name) to Harlow
The story of Harlow
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. That crossing happened for boys first; the American astronomer Harlow Shapley, born in the nineteenth century, carried it as a given name generations before the current wave. Its modern life as a girl's name in the United States is much more recent, and belongs to the same broad turn toward surname-style names for daughters.
Meaningscholars disagree
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.
How the name formed
- Herlawerecorded Essex place name
- HarlowEnglish place name
- HarlowEnglish surname
- Harlowgiven name
Related forms: Harlowe
Pronouncing 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.
Nicknames for Harlow
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1882
- Most boys named
- 2023182 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #701reached in 1884
- Change vs 2023
- −8.2%167 in 2025, from 182
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Harlow in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Harlowe in English — spelling variant
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, New York.
Harlows among us
people named Harlow are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 10,228 born in 2025 was named Harlow
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
Fashion outlook
Harlow is on its second act. Revived names age gently: the generation that wore them first is far enough away that the name feels classic rather than dated.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Harlow is headed
Harlow is on a steep climb — if the curve holds, 2030 could see around 60% more babies given the name than today. Its history is short or jumpy, though, so read this as a sketch rather than a promise.
Low confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Harlow beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Harlow in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- 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.
- Works for a boy or a girl without changing form, and has documented use on both sides.
- Rare enough in any one classroom that a child is unlikely to share it, while the spelling itself is recognizable.
- 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.
- Its rise as a girl's name is recent, so it may end up sounding of a particular moment — the trade-off for a name that is currently distinctive without being unfamiliar.
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Harlow
Masculine · #1212 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Harlows are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,500 people named Harlow are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Harlow in 2025?
- Harlow ranks #1212 among US boy names in 2025, with 167 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Harlow?
- About 1 in every 10,228 US boys born in 2025 was named Harlow — 167 in all.
- Will my child share the name Harlow with classmates?
- Harlow will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Harlow
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Jahkai#1212 · Kruz#1212 · Bilal#1212 · Dovid#1212 · Draven#1217 · Syed#1217 · Jahziel#1217 · Luan#1217
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Harlow? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Harlow and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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