Meaning & origin
What it means
Quill goes back to Irish Ó Cuill, meaning “descendant of Coll.”
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 2013. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Quill through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 441
- 420 boys · 21 girls
- Most popular year
- 2019
- 69 babies
- 2025
- 35
- #3,361 for boys
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- +6%
- Steady
Where it’s given
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 35 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 3,361 among boys’ names. Average annual use for boys was 12.0% higher in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. Its largest published annual count for boys was 63 in 2019. In 2025, California had the largest reported state-level birth count for boys with this name (6). Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 1,362 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Similar names
If you love Quill, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
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“having dark features; the little dark one”
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Calahan is a surname from Irish.
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Lachlann
“loch” · “place of”
>99% boys