This ancient surname which can be confusingly English, Dutch, Germanic, Norman French or even Scottish in origin. It sometimes has identical spellings in different countries, but quite different meanings!
If English it is usually spelt Low or Lowe, and derives from the pre 7th century Anglo-Saxon word ‘hlaw, meaning a prominent small hill. Local names usually denoted where a man held his land, and indicated where he actually lived. Habitation names were originally acquired by the original bearer of the name, who, having lived by, at or near a place, would then take that name as a form of identification for himself and his family. When people lived close to the soil as they did in the Middle Ages, they were acutely conscious of every local variation in landscape and countryside. Every field or plot of land was identified in normal conversation by a descriptive term. If a man lived on or near a hill or mountain, or by a river or stream, forests and trees, he might receive the word as a family name.
The Norman French word ‘lou’, meaning wolf is also used as a nickname in all countries which described a ferocious individual. In countries whose language is primarily German based the surname is recorded in many forms including Low, Lowe, Leeb (Germany), Lob and Lobe (Alsace), Leue, Leeuw, Leeuwink, Leeuwerink, Louw (Dutch), Lev (Czech) and others. Here it may derive from the pre medieval word ‘lewo’ meaning a lion, and hence was a name given to a brave or regal person.
The first recorded spelling of the family name anywhere in the world may be that of John le Lu. This was dated 1207, in the Pipe Rolls of the county of Gloucestershire, during the reign of King John of England, 1199 – 1216. Other early records of the name mention Ralph de la Lowe of the County of Northumberland in 1273. Hugh de la Lowe was recorded in County Lancashire in the same year. Crist atte Lowe of Yorkshire was mentioned in the Yorkshire Poll Tax of 1379. Thomas del Lowe of East Cheshire was documented in the year of 1430. Thomas Lowe, ibid in 1448. There was also a place so called in Scotland, from which the name was derived. The earliest there on record is Nicholas Loue, in 1331. William Low was a tenant of Welton of Balbrogi in 1473, and John Lowe and Richard Low were witnesses in Brechin in 1586.
Adapted from www.surnamedb.com & www.4crests.com