unisex name
Harlow
HAR-loh
- Origin English
- Gender Unisex
- Syllables 2
- Letters 6
- Popularity Top 1000 (US)
- Births on record 22,855
the United States
#309
2025 births
Harlow is a unisex name from an Essex place name meaning "army hill," most likely a mound where a Saxon assembly met rather than a battlefield. It ranks 162nd in Scotland and 309th in the United States.
- Harlow is a name of English origin.
- Peaked in 2023, when 1,455 babies were given the name.
- It has been rising over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 2,888 babies in the United States is given this name.
- Harlow started out as a boys' name and is now given almost entirely to girls.
- First appears in US birth records in 1882.
- 2 syllables, with the stress on syllable 1.
Harlow over time
Births per decade in the United States, 1880s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2025, not a full ten years.
Show the numbers
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 1880s | 28 |
| 1890s | 41 |
| 1900s | 36 |
| 1910s | 274 |
| 1920s | 329 |
| 1930s | 325 |
| 1940s | 225 |
| 1950s | 133 |
| 1960s | 51 |
| 1970s | 27 |
| 1980s | 5 |
| 1990s | 10 |
| 2000s | 559 |
| 2010s | 7,018 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 7,594 |
What Harlow means
Harlow means army hill, or assembly mound, from the Old English here, an army or host, and hlaw, a hill or burial mound. The army sense in place names usually points at a gathering rather than a battle.
Where Harlow comes from
Harlow comes from the Essex town, from the Old English here, an army or a body of people, and hlaw, a hill or tumulus. In place names the here element frequently marks a meeting place — a mound where the hundred assembled — rather than a battlefield, and Harlow does have a Roman temple site and prehistoric barrows. The town was designated a New Town in 1947 and rebuilt to absorb London's postwar population. The name's use as a given name is American and follows Jean Harlow, the platinum-blonde star who died at twenty-six in 1937; her own name was a stage adaptation of her mother's maiden name. Our data records it as unisex, and its recent rise is largely for girls.
Harlow in use
Harlow ranks 162nd in Scotland with 29 births in 2024 and 309th in the United States with 1,148 births, its largest market, and our data records it as unisex. It is rising with a peak in 2023, and our records carry it from 1882. It holds 327th in England and Wales with 229 births, so it has genuine reach across six markets.
How popular is Harlow?
In 2025, Harlow was given to 1,148 babies in the United States, ranking #309 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.
Where Harlow is used
US figures omit any name given to fewer than five babies in a year, so the rarest names are absent from the source rather than absent from use. Data & sources.
Names that peaked alongside Harlow
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Harlow also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Harlow over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
Harlow in other languages
The same name as it is spelled elsewhere — not shortenings, and not different names that merely sound alike. Each one has its own record here.
- Other forms
- Forms we hold no single language for — some are used across several, some are simply spelled differently.
- Harlowe
Sibling names for Harlow
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Harlow — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Harlow
What does the name Harlow mean?
Harlow means "army hill," from the Old English here, an army, and hlaw, a mound — most likely an assembly place.
Is Harlow a boy's or a girl's name?
Both — our data records it as unisex, though the recent rise is largely for girls.
Is it named after Jean Harlow?
Its use as a given name follows her. Her own name was a stage adaptation of her mother's maiden name.
How popular is Harlow?
162nd in Scotland and 309th in the United States.
How many syllables are in Harlow?
Harlow has 2 syllables.
Is Harlow a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Harlow currently ranks #162 in the United States. It has been rising over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.