Quintin

Quintin is a variant spelling of an Old Roman family name, Quintinus, which is derivative of the Latin “quintus” meaning “fifth”. In ancient times, Quintus would have been a name bestowed upon the “fifth” child in terms of birth order or a child born in the “fifth” month of the year. One early and notable name bearer was Saint Quentin, a 3rd century Roman citizen who was 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 (which is how the name spread), 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 by Roman soldiers, St. Quentin’s body was unceremoniously thrown on to a river bank. About 50 years later a blind woman discovered the corpse and severed head apparently intact. She claimed to have been led 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. It was a common practice in medieval Europe for parents to name their babies after well-known saints as a protective measure (times were pretty precarious back then and people were generally superstitious). The Normans would later bring the name Quentin to England in the 11th century but it has remained most popular in France and Belgium. Quentin is still a Top 50 name in France. The spelling of Quintin is used mostly by Americans and Canadians.