Dellow Family History

Probably denoting someone who lived at a place named The Hoo from Old English hōh Middle English Ho ‘hill spur promontory’ (see Howe), prefixed with Anglo-Norman French del or de la (‘of the’ or ‘at the’). The source of the medieval surname cited below is The Hoo in Great Gaddesden (Herts) which is recorded as la Hoo in 1325.

The later Dellow family of Great Hormead may have descended from the de la Hoo family of Great Gaddesden but this is unproven. In the modern period, the name was sometimes pronounced /dɛlə/ and spelled Deller or Dellar, as in Mary Dellar or Dellow 1744 in IGI (Great Hormead Herts).

See Deller for more examples. The name may sometimes have been reduced to Hoo, Hoe, or Howe. Compare Henry Howe 1558 in IGI (Ware Herts) with the 1651 bearer below and Water Howe 1560 in IGI (Bassingbourn Cambs) with Ann Dellow 1793 in IGI (Bassingbourn Cambs), but these could be coincidental occurrences of different family names.