'Harrow' comes from Old English hearg, a heathen temple.
The temple probably stood on Harrow Hill, where St Mary's Church stands today. In 767 the hill was recorded as Gumeninga hergae, which may mean the heathen temple of a tribe called the Gumeningas. Before North Harrow station opened in 1915 and the suburb grew around it, the area was known as Hooking Green.