Thurlow
A masculine name of Old English origin, meaning "place of the thorp".
Name Census estimates that about 80 living Americans carry the first name Thurlow. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Thurlow today is around 79 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Thurlow births was 1915 (22 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Thurlow. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
Key insights
- • The typical person named Thurlow is about 79 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Thurlows were born before 1957.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Thurlow. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
80
~ 1 in 4,284,429 Americans
Peak year
1915
22 babies that year
Average age
79
years old
1977 SSA rank
#6,777
Tracked since 1883
Census
Thurlow in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 144 people with the first name Thurlow, which placed it at #46,371 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#46,371
National first-name rank
People counted
144
144 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
74.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Thurlow
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Thurlow is White at 74.3%. The next largest groups are Black (17.4%) and Two or More Races (4.9%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Thurlow described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Thurlow at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White74.3% · 107
- Black or African American17.4% · 25
- Two or more races4.9% · 7
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.8% · 4
- Hispanic or Latino0.7% · 1
Popularity
Thurlow: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Thurlow from the 1880s through to the 1970s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 129 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Thurlow by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Thurlow during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Thurlow
The name Thurlow has its origins in the Old English language, dating back to the 5th century CE. It is derived from the words "thur," meaning "Thor," the name of the Norse god of thunder, and "hlaw," which refers to a small hill or burial mound. The name was initially used in Anglo-Saxon England, particularly in regions where Norse influence was strong, such as East Anglia and parts of northern England.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Thurlow can be found in the Domesday Book, a comprehensive survey of land ownership and taxation undertaken in 1086 by order of William the Conqueror. The book mentions a place called "Thurlow" in Suffolk, which likely took its name from an early settler or landowner bearing the name.
Historically, the name Thurlow has been associated with several notable individuals. One of the earliest was Thurlow Weed (1797-1882), an influential American politician and newspaper publisher who played a significant role in the formation of the Republican Party. He was a close advisor to President Abraham Lincoln and helped secure his nomination for the presidency in 1860.
Another famous bearer of the name was Edward Thurlow, 1st Baron Thurlow (1731-1806), an English lawyer and judge who served as Lord Chancellor of Great Britain from 1778 to 1792. He was known for his forceful personality and oratory skills, and his tenure as Lord Chancellor was marked by several important legal reforms.
In the literary world, Thurlow Weed (1797-1873), an American poet and editor, gained recognition for his contributions to the Hartford Wits, a group of writers and intellectuals based in Hartford, Connecticut, in the early 19th century. His poems and literary essays were widely published during his lifetime.
The name Thurlow also appears in the annals of British military history. Sir Thurlow Cumming (1775-1865) was a British naval officer who served during the Napoleonic Wars and later became a colonial governor in South Africa. He played a crucial role in the establishment of British rule in the Cape Colony.
Finally, Thurlow Weed (1851-1923), an American businessman and philanthropist, made his mark as the founder of the Weed Deck Company, which produced playing cards and other gaming supplies. He was also a prominent benefactor of Amherst College, his alma mater, and other educational institutions in Massachusetts.
People
Thurlow + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Thurlow as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with T
Other first names starting with T with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Thurlow: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Thurlow?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 80 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Thurlow going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 4,284,429 US residents.
Is Thurlow a common name?
We classify Thurlow as "Very Rare". It ranks above 61.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 422 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Thurlow most popular?
The single biggest year for Thurlow was 1915, when 22 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Thurlow is about 79 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Thurlow in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 144 people with the name Thurlow, or 0.05 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #46,371 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Thurlow in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Thurlow?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Thurlow appears almost entirely male. Of the 148 people counted with this name, 100.0% were male and only a very small share were female. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Thurlow?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Thurlow is White at 74.3%. The next largest groups are Black (17.4%) and Two or More Races (4.9%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Thurlow most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Thurlow in the 2020 Census, accounting for 74.3% (107 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Thurlow in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Thurlow a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Thurlow in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Thurlow still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Thurlow in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Thurlow can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people share the name Thurlow?
You can see how many people share the name Thurlow on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.