Guild of One-Name Studies
One-name studies, Genealogy
Study: Hollow   
Variants: Hallo, Hallow, Holla, Hollah
Category: 3 - A study where research using core genealogical datasets and transcriptions is well under way on a global basis.
Guild hosted website: hollow.one-name.net
DNA website: www.familytreedna.com/groups/hollow-2/about/background
Contact: Mr Colin Hollow
The name 'Hollow' appears in very few references. Reany (see below) links Hollow and Hollows but in the Cornish references Hollow without the 's' seems to be used almost exclusively.
References
A Dictionary of English Surnames, P.H. Reany and R.M. Wilson, OUP 3rd Edn. 1996 Hollow, Hollows; Peter in le Holwe 1279 Rotuli Hundredorum, 2 vpls 1812-18 Cambridgeshire; Thomas de Hollowe 1327 Subsidy rolls Worcs. Worcs. Hist. Soc. 4 vols 1893-1902, dweller in the hollow Old English, holh
A Handbook of Cornish Surnames, G. Pawley White , Pawley White , 1972 Hollow: from Hallow: moors, place name, many Penhallows found in West Cornwall, from penhallow: end of moors or downs.
The Guiness Book of Names, Leslie Dunkling, Guiness Publishing Ltd. 5th Edn. 1991.
In 1890 Henry Brougham Guppy published his 'Homes of Family Names in Great Britain',(Harrison 1890). Guppy made a particular study of the names of farmers, whom he described as 'the most stay-at-home class of the country'. and he discovered that in each county their surnames fell into groups:
The surname Hollow appears in the 'peculiar' to one county list for Cornwall.
The origin of the name Hollow has been discussed further lately in The Hollow Study's newsletter "The Hollow Log." and The Guild's own "Journal Of One Name Studies". The origin may not be as the learned authors of surname books suggest. Look in Hollow Logs 45 and 46 or in JOONS Vol. 12 Issue 3.