boy's name
Quentin
KWEN-tin
- Origin French
- Gender Boy
- Syllables 2
- Letters 7
- Popularity Top 1000 (France)
- Births on record 174,966
the United States
#967
2025 births
Quentin is a boy's name meaning fifth — a Roman birth-order name, given to a fifth child or one born in the fifth month. France ranks it 809th, and it peaked in America as recently as 1998.
- Quentin is a name of French origin.
- Peaked in France in 1998, when 7,500 babies were given the name.
- It has been falling over the past decade in France.
- Today about 1 in 11,790 babies in France is given this name.
- First appears in birth records in 1900.
- 2 syllables, with the stress on syllable 1.
Quentin over time
Births per decade in France, 1900s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2025, not a full ten years.
Show the numbers
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 1900s | 35 |
| 1910s | 25 |
| 1920s | 10 |
| 1930s | 10 |
| 1940s | 35 |
| 1950s | 60 |
| 1960s | 120 |
| 1970s | 960 |
| 1980s | 13,675 |
| 1990s | 62,785 |
| 2000s | 39,735 |
| 2010s | 10,620 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 785 |
What Quentin means
Quentin means fifth. The Latin quintus is the ordinary ordinal number, used by Romans as a first name in its own right without any further sense attached to it.
Where Quentin comes from
Quentin descends from Quintinus, a diminutive of Quintus — the Latin for fifth. Romans used bare numbers as first names, so Quintus, Sextus, Septimus, Octavius and Decimus mark a fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth and tenth child, or a birth month in the old ten-month calendar. That calendar drift is why September through December still carry the numbers seven to ten while sitting in the ninth to twelfth positions. Saint Quentin was martyred in Roman Gaul and gave his name to the northern French town.
Quentin in use
Quentin peaked in the United States in 1998, when 1,052 babies were registered, and is falling in our data. It now ranks 809th in France on 50 births, 967th in the United States on 238 and 1662nd in England and Wales on 16, across 174,966 lifetime births in four of the seven markets we track. Its French peak is far larger than its American one, so the 1998 figure marks a second and smaller wave.
How popular is Quentin?
In 2025, Quentin was given to 50 babies in France, ranking #809 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.
Where Quentin is used
French counts are rounded to the nearest five and nothing below five is published, so these figures show the shape of the name's use rather than an exact tally. Data & sources.
Names that peaked alongside Quentin
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Quentin also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Quentin over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
1 nickname for Quentin
Each one is a name in its own right — the figure underneath is how it is doing today, so you can see which short forms are rising and which have faded.
Quentin in other languages
The same name as it is spelled elsewhere — not shortenings, and not different names that merely sound alike. Each one has its own record here.
- Dutch
- Quinten
Sibling names for Quentin
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Quentin — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Quentin
What does the name Quentin mean?
Fifth — from the Latin quintus, used by Romans as a birth-order name.
Did Romans really name children by number?
Yes. Quintus, Sextus, Septimus, Octavius and Decimus all mark a position or a birth month.
Is Quinn short for Quentin?
It is used that way, though Quinn is also an Irish surname with a separate origin.
How popular is Quentin?
809th in France and 967th in the United States.
Is Quentin a girl's or a boy's name?
Quentin is given almost entirely to boys in birth records.
How many syllables are in Quentin?
Quentin has 2 syllables.
What are the nicknames for Quentin?
Quentin is usually shortened to Quinn.
Is Quentin a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Quentin currently ranks #809 in France. It has been falling over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.