Barlow

English: habitational name from any of several places called Barlow, especially those in Lancashire and West Yorkshire. The former is named with Old English bere ‘barley’ + hlāw ‘hill’; the latter probably has as its first element the derived adjective beren or the compound bere-ærn ‘barn’. There is also a place of this name in Derbyshire, named with Old English bār ‘boar’ or bere ‘barley’ + lēah ‘woodland clearing’, and one in Shropshire, which is from bere ‘barley’ + lēah.

See the Key to the Dictionary or consult the General Introduction for further explanation.