Qadir m ArabicMeans
"capable, powerful, mighty" in Arabic. This transcription represents two different ways of spelling the name in Arabic. In Islamic tradition
القادر (al-Qadir) is one of the 99 names of Allah.
Qasim m Arabic, UrduMeans
"one who divides goods among his people", derived from Arabic
قسم (qasama) meaning "to share" or "to divide". This was the name of a son of the Prophet
Muhammad who died while young.
Qays m ArabicMeans
"measurement" in Arabic. This was the real name of Majnun, the lover of
Layla, in Nizami Ganjavi's 12th-century poem
Layla and Majnun.
Qiang m ChineseFrom Chinese
强 (qiáng) meaning "strong, powerful, energetic", as well as other characters pronounced in a similar way.
Qing f & m ChineseFrom Chinese
青 (qīng) meaning "blue, green, young", as well as other characters pronounced in a similar way.
Qinglong m Chinese MythologyFrom Chinese
青 (qīng) meaning "blue, green" and
龙 (lóng) meaning "dragon". This is the Chinese name of the Azure Dragon, associated with the east and the spring season.
Qinnuajuaq f & m InuitMeans
"rough-legged hawk" in Inuktitut (species Buteo lagopus).
Qiu m & f ChineseFrom Chinese
秋 (qiū) meaning "autumn",
丘 (qiū) meaning "hill, mound", or other characters with a similar pronunciation. The given name of the philosopher
Confucius was
丘.
Quanah m Comanche (Anglicized)From Comanche
kwana meaning
"fragrant, smelly". Quanah Parker (1845-1911) was a 19th-century chief of the Kwahadi Comanche.
Quaoar m New World MythologyEnglish rendering of a Takic name (alternatively
Kwawar or
Kwauwar), of unknown meaning. In the mythology of the Mission Indians of southern California, Quaoar was a creator god also known as Chinigchinix. A dwarf planet in the outer solar system was named for him in 2002.
Quasimodo m LiteratureFrom the name of the Sunday that follows Easter, called Quasimodo Sunday, which gets its name from the opening words of the Latin chant
quasi modo (geniti infantes...) meaning
"like the way (that newborn infants do...)". It was used by Victor Hugo for his novel
The Hunchback of Notre-Dame (1831), in which Quasimodo is a hunchbacked bellringer at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. He was named thus by Archdeacon Frollo because he was abandoned as a baby at the cathedral on Quasimodo Sunday, though Hugo states that Frollo may have been inspired by the alternate meaning for
quasi "almost", referring to the almost-complete appearance of the foundling.
Queen f EnglishFrom an old nickname that was derived from the English word
queen, ultimately from Old English
cwen meaning "woman, wife".
Quentin m French, EnglishFrench form of the Roman name
Quintinus. It was borne by a 3rd-century saint, a missionary who was martyred in Gaul. The Normans introduced this name to England. In America it was brought to public attention by president Theodore Roosevelt's son Quentin Roosevelt (1897-1918), who was killed in World War I. A famous bearer is the American movie director Quentin Tarantino (1963-).
Queralt f CatalanFrom the name of a Spanish sanctuary (in Catalonia) that is devoted to the Virgin
Mary.
Quetzalcoatl m Aztec and Toltec MythologyMeans
"feathered snake" in Nahuatl, derived from
quetzalli "quetzal feather, precious thing" and
cōātl "snake". In Aztec and other Mesoamerican mythology he was the god of the sky, wind, and knowledge, also associated with the morning star. According to one legend he created the humans of this age using the bones of humans from the previous age and adding his own blood.
Quetzalli f NahuatlMeans
"feather (from the quetzal bird)" or
"precious thing" in Nahuatl.
Quinctius m Ancient RomanRoman family name derived from the given name
Quintus (which was itself originally spelled
Quinctus). This was the name of a patrician family that was especially prominent during the early Republic.
Quincy m & f EnglishFrom an English surname that was derived (via the place name
Cuinchy) from the personal name
Quintus. A famous bearer was John Quincy Adams (1767-1848), sixth president of the United States, who was born in the town of Quincy, Massachusetts. Both the town and the president were named after his maternal great-grandfather John Quincy (1689-1767). Another notable bearer is the American musician Quincy Jones (1933-).
Quinlan m & f English (Rare)From an Irish surname, an Anglicized form of
Ó Caoindealbháin, itself from the given name
Caoindealbhán (Old Irish
Caíndelbán).
Quinn m & f EnglishFrom an Irish surname, an Anglicized form of Irish Gaelic
Ó Cuinn, itself derived from the given name
Conn. In the United States it was more common as a name for boys until 2010, the year after the female character Quinn Fabray began appearing on the television series
Glee.
Quintilian m HistoryFrom the Roman cognomen
Quintilianus, earlier
Quinctilianus, which was itself derived from the family name
Quinctilius. A notable bearer was the 1st-century rhetorician Marcus Fabius Quintilianus, simply known as Quintilian in English.
Quinton m EnglishVariant of
Quentin, also coinciding with an English surname meaning "queen's town" in Old English.
Quintus m Ancient RomanRoman praenomen, or given name, meaning
"fifth" in Latin. Originally, during the time of the early Roman Republic, it was spelled
Quinctus. This name was traditionally given to the fifth child, or possibly a child born in the fifth month. It was a common praenomen, being more popular than the other numeric Roman names. A notable bearer was the poet Horace (Quintus Horatius Flaccus).
Quirinus m Roman Mythology, Late RomanPossibly derived from the Sabine word
quiris meaning
"spear". Quirinus was a Sabine and Roman god, sometimes identified with
Romulus. He declined in importance after the early Republican era. The name was also borne by several early saints.
Quixote m LiteratureCreated by the Spanish author Miguel de Cervantes for the hero of his novel
Don Quixote (1605). This is the character's surname; see
Quixote.
Qulu m AzerbaijaniMeans
"servant" in Azerbaijani. It is sometimes used as the second part of compound names.
Q'uq'umatz m Mayan MythologyMeans
"feathered serpent", from K'iche' Maya
q'uq' "quetzal, quetzal feather" and
kumatz "serpent, snake". This was the K'iche' equivalent of the Yucatec Maya god
K'uk'ulkan, though the final element is derived from a different root.
Qurban m Urdu, AzerbaijaniFrom Arabic
قربان (qurban) meaning
"sacrifice, sacrificial animal". It is associated with the Islamic holiday of Eid al-Adha, which features the ritual sacrifice of an animal.
Qusay m ArabicPossibly derived from Arabic
قصي (qasi) meaning
"distant". This was the name of an ancestor of the Prophet
Muhammad who was in charge of a temple in Mecca.
Quỳnh f & m VietnameseFrom Sino-Vietnamese
瓊 (quỳnh) meaning
"deep red". This is also the Vietnamese name for a variety of flowering plant (genus Epiphyllum).