Etymology & Historical Origin of the Baby Name Quentin

Quentin is an old French form of the Roman name Quintinus which is derivative of the Latin “quintus” meaning ‘fifth’. Quintus was a given name during Antiquity and likely bestowed upon the fifth child in terms of birth order or a child born in the fifth month of the year. Saint Quentin was a 3rd century saint who was a Roman citizen martyred in Gaul (present day Saint-Quentin, Aisne in northern France) for preaching Christianity to the pagans and converting a considerable amount of Gauls. His cult grew during the Middle Ages, but particularly in France where he made his largest impact and so a sizable number of place names are so-called in honor of St. Quentin. It was believed that after his beheading, his body was unceremoniously thrown in to river bank by Roman soldiers. About 50 years later a blind-lady discovered the corpse and severed head apparently intact. She said she had been lead to his gravesite through prayer. She took the body to a hillside for a proper burial and her eyesight was (of course) miraculously restored. A basilica was erected at his tomb a few hundred years later. The Normans brought the name Quentin to England in the later Middle Ages but it has remained most popular in France and Belgium. Quentin was the 35th most heavily used boy’s name in France (2009).

All About the Baby Name – Quentin

Personality

OF THE BOY NAME QUENTIN

The number one personality is a leader - strong and competitive. They are willing to initiate action and take risks. One personalities work hard toward their endeavors and have the ability to apply their creative and innovative thinking skills with strong determination. They believe in their ability to succeed and are too stubborn to be hindered by obstacles. Ones meet obstacles head-on with such mental vigor and energy that you better step aside. They resent taking orders, so don't try telling them what to do either. This is an intensely active personality, but they are also known as starters rather than finishers. They have a propensity to become bored and will move quickly to the next project if not properly challenged.  They are the ones to think up and put into action new and brilliant ideas, but they are not the ones to stick around and manage them. This personality has an enthusiastic and pioneering spirit. They are distinctly original.

Popularity

OF THE BOY NAME QUENTIN

Quentin made his debut on the U.S. popularity charts in the ‘fifth’ year of the 20th century (1905). The name really floundered at the bottom of the barrel for several years until making a massive jump up the charts in 1918. This was the year that President Teddy Roosevelt’s young son, Quentin Roosevelt, was killed in air combat over France during World War I. This handsome young war hero was immediately brought into the public eye and parents across the nation responded with increased attention to this unusual name. By the way, Quentin Roosevelt was the ‘fifth’ child born to Teddy and his second wife Edith. In any case, the name Quentin was at the height of his popularity in 1918 but still not quite a Top 200 favorite. The name reached similar levels of moderate popularity at the end of the 1990s, but other than that, Quentin has experienced pretty uneventful historical usage. Since Quentin has never been a trendy of overused name it maintains a lot of originality. Not to mention the fact that it’s one of those rare “Q” names. Quentin (like Quincy or Quinn) is just a super cool name. We give FIVE stars to this ‘fifth child’!!

Quick Facts

ON QUENTIN

GENDER:

Boy

ORIGIN:

French

NUMBER OF SYLLABLES:

2

RANKING POPULARITY:

406

PRONUNCIATION:

KWEN-tin

SIMPLE MEANING:

Fifth

Characteristics

OF QUENTIN

Independent

Individualistic

Ambitious

Strong-willed

Inventive

Successful

Cultural References to the Baby Name – Quentin

Literary Characters

OF THE BABY NAME QUENTIN

Quentin Compson is a main character in William Faulkner’s fourth novel, The Sound and The Fury, published in 1929. Quentin is the embodiment of a floundering Southern culture, caught between the idealized glories of the ante-bellum past and the social amorality of the days since Reconstruction. (Quentin is 19 years old in 1910.) He is strongly imbued with the idea of the old Southern Code, and seeks order and virtue in a world becoming increasingly chaotic. His sister, Caddy, represents all that he wishes Southern womanhood to be, pure and unsullied, but Caddy herself really is anything but. As she pursues a life of immorality and carelessness, she seems to augur the way all of society is progressing - everywhere is ruin and despair. Against this backdrop, Quentin does what is, for him, the only honorable thing – he ends his own life. We would like to say that Caddy’s illegitimate daughter, also named Quentin, retrieve’s the family’s lost fortunes and faiths, but alas, she does quite the opposite in this story of doom. The only redeeming thing that can be noted about these particular Quentins is the lyrical quality of their shared name.

Childrens Books

ON THE BABY NAME QUENTIN

We cannot find any childrens books with the first name Quentin


Popular Songs

ON QUENTIN

San Quentin
a song by Johnny Cash

Famous People

NAMED QUENTIN

Saint Quentin (3rd century saint)
Quentin Tarantino (film maker)
Quentin Roosevelt (son of Theodore Roosevelt, killed in WWI)
Quentin Roosevelt II (son of Theodore Roosevelt, Jr., killed in WWII)
Quentin Lee (director)
Quentin Blake (illustrator)
Quentin Bryce (Australia's first female Governor-General)
Quentin Leo Cook (aka Fatboy Slim, musician)
Quentin Matsys (painter)
Quentin Moses (football player)
Quentin Hubbard (son of the founder of the Church of Scientology)
Quentin Kawānanakoa (Hawaiian royalty and politician)

Children of Famous People

NAMED QUENTIN

We cannot find any children of famous people with the first name Quentin

Historic Figures

WITH THE NAME QUENTIN

We cannot find any historically significant people with the first name Quentin