My friend wants 'Harrow' - your thoughts?

[keepyk]

My colleague is keen on Harrow for a girl, I said I'd put it to the MN hive mind!! Any thoughts?

For a girl? Really? To me it's the name of a posh boys' school!

I think of harrowing (acutely distressing) or the word marrow. Sorry, neither of those are great associations.

To me it is to harrow the field. Or upsetting, that was harrowing. I'm not aware of it having a name meaning. So no I wouldn't like it.

It's a huge nope from me.

Ooh no. Harrow is where my nearest Primark is.

To each their own.

No!

If she had a brother would he be called Eton?

Harrow to me means the public school ie posh public boys school.

Very weird indeed. Sister to Winchester and Charterhouse?

Something like Marlowe is similar but miles better.

Can't think of much good about that. No real positive connotations to the word.

Does she mean Harlow? I think girls have been called Harlow before.

Are you from the UK ? Harrow is a famous boys school or an area of London so not a great name really. The verb "harrowing" makes Harrow not a good choice for a child.

Harlow is in Essex and not a good choice for a name for a child in the UK.

A harrow is a piece of agricultural equipment. Spiky and covered in earth. It also sounds like how Mickey Rooney would have said "Hello" in Breakfast at Tiffany's, if you need any further offputting facts.

Is it meant to be an alternative version of the name Hero? clutches at straws

I know a girl called Arrow, which seems infinitely nicer and what the child would get called anyway in large swathes of the country

Harrowing means distressing.

To harrow would be too distressed.

Are they American, OP? Americans seem to have a fondness for using British place names as names for their kids eg. Camden, London, Preston (!)

Harrow is a fairly dull bit of NW London (am from there so will defend my opinion to the death), a famous school, and reminds people of ‘harrowing’ in its most negative meaning. So that would be a no.

On the other hand, if she ends up a keen climber, she could spend lots of timing joking about being ‘Harrow-on-the-Hill’ so perhaps it would be worth it.

I think the school, the town and the verb, not necessarily in that order.

All the associations are odd - trauma, public school or suburban town.

Couldn’t get away with it in the U.K. I’m assuming like others they’re American.

Snap daisy!

When melancholy Autumn comes to Wembley
And electric trains are lighted after tea

I thought harrowing,
Harrow and Wealsden (tupe stop)
London borough of....

Hattie is similar?

No. I would just picture the area of London every time I heard it.
Nothing particularly wrong with Harrow the town/area, but not really somewhere you would desire to be named after. Just like you wouldn't generally choose to be called Uxbridge, Ruislip, Acton, Ealing etc.
Surely she can find something a bit nicer.