Meaning and background
The story behind Harlow
Harlow began as an English habitational surname before appearing as a given name. Behind the Name traces its place-name elements to Old English words involving a hill, while recognising more than one possible first element. Its two-syllable sound is straightforward in British English. Describing it simply as 'army hill' would overstate the certainty of a particular historical explanation.
- Origin
- English given name adopted from a habitational surname; the underlying place-name has alternative Old English interpretations. Source
- Meaning
- The place-name includes Old English hlaw, a hill or mound; possible first elements include hær (rock) and here (army). Source
- Pronunciation
- British English /ˈhɑː.ləʊ/. Source
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About Harlow
Recorded as a dog’s name
Harlow appears in 12 dog licence records in the 2026 New York City dataset.
How to read this count
These records cover New York City and may count the same dog in more than one licence period. They are not a national popularity ranking.
Pronunciation and rhythm
/hɑɹloʊ/
US English sound sequence, converted from the CMU dictionary. Stress marks are shown separately.
Stress on the first syllable in the recorded US readings.
View dictionary notation
/hɑɹloʊ/ · primary stress on syllable 1HH AA1 R L OW0
These are US dictionary readings. Personal, regional and other language pronunciations may differ.
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Sources and research notes (2)
- New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene NYC Dog Licensing Dataset — extract_year 2026 — Dog licence periods, not unique dogs; NYC only. No owner-level fields retrieved.
- Carnegie Mellon University / CMU Sphinx maintainers CMU US English Pronouncing Dictionary — US English dictionary readings; not owner-specific or exhaustive multilingual pronunciation
References support the individual facts shown. A source link does not mean the entire profile has been verified.