Warrilow Family History

From one of two or more minor places in Staffs, most probably the site now called Mount Pleasant (NGR SJ 9637) in Fulford, which was Warylowe in 1266 and Warrylowe in 161. Related field-names in nearby parishes include Warrilow recorded in 1672 (Cheadle), Werlows in 1865 (Checkley), and Lytle Warrelowe in 1528 (Rocester).

Further south, the field-name Warrilow in Acton Trussell (recorded as Warelowe in 1574, Warrelow in 1604, perhaps the same place as Warrelow in adjacent Penkridge) is an alternative source of the surname.

However, the earliest bearers of the surname are generally located much closer to Mount Pleasant.

The place-names probably derive from Old English wearg ‘felon, criminal’ + hlāw ‘mound, hill’, the site of a gallows perhaps.