Whitlow
An English habitational surname meaning someone who lived by a white hill or mound.
The #4,432 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 38,497 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Whitlow is best explained as an English place-name surname from Old English elements meaning “white” and “hill” or “mound.” Historical sources connect it with hwit and hlāw, referring to a white hill, barrow, or small tumulus. A later spelling with -low reflects the same old element seen in many English place-names.
History
19th-century surname writers linked Whitlow to northern English place-names, especially forms interpreted as “white hill.” The surname is relatively uncommon and appears in English records as a local name rather than a large occupational or patronymic family name. Some older sources also noted the similarity to the medical word whitlow, but treated that as a separate word, not the surname’s source.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Older surname books explicitly compared Whitlow with place-name forms like Whitelaw, showing how closely many English “white + landscape feature” surnames were linked.
From the historical record
“WHITLOCK = Whitelock, q.v. WHITLOW (Eng.) Dweller at the White HilL [O.E. hwit + hlcBw, a hill, (burial) mound] Cp. Whitelaw. WHITMAN = Whiteman, q.v. WHITMARSH (Eng.) Dweller at the White Marsh [O.E. hwit + mersc] WHITMELL (Eng.) = Whitmlll, q.v.”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)