Here is the game we are playing:
We are going to pretend that we are naming a baby and that the name MUST start with a certain letter, and so we will need one name starting with that letter for a boy and one name starting with that letter for a girl, or else one name that would work for either, EVEN IF we don’t like any of the names that start with that letter enough to Actually In Real Life choose them. It is just a game where we place artificial restrictions on reality in order to create the kind of tension that makes games fun—like when you have to choose what foods you’d eat if you could only eat three foods for the rest of your life: the fun is in thinking it over AS IF it were a real forced decision, while KNOWING it is not. There is a baby! It MUST be given a name with a particular letter! That is the game.
After that basic concept, we can decide our own sub-rules, based on what makes the game fun and not stressful. Some examples:
• I’m not planning to play that the name has to fit with the names of my other children or with the surname, though this would be an option for anyone who would LIKE to play it that way; I think I will have more fun if I pretend it is a stand-alone baby and that the surname is not an issue, though I may change my mind as we go. (And if I narrow it down to a few options and can’t decide, I might use siblings/surname as a tie-breaker.)
• It is also fine to narrow it down to a few finalists without getting to The One Name.
• It is fine to wave aside issues such as a friend who already used that name, a famous person with the name, etc., if that makes it more fun and less stressful to choose. This is just pretend, so you can pretend that those things aren’t issues if you want to. (Or you can let the issues stand as they are in real life, if THAT is more fun.)
• We can also all make our own decisions about whether the names have to be ones we think we’d ACTUALLY USE in that hypothetical scenario, or just our FAVORITE names starting with that letter, regardless of whether we think the names are practical; I am not sure which way I will play it, and I likely won’t be consistent.
• If you already have a child with a name starting with the letter we’re working on, you get to pick again from all the names that remain; you don’t have to choose your child’s name as your favorite just because it WAS your favorite: this is a FRESH baby, and you wouldn’t give it the same name as your existing child. (If you would normally prefer not to repeat an initial within a sibling group, you can just pretend that’s NOT a preference for the sake of the game.)
• You can do as much or as little explanation as you like in your comment: you can just list the names you chose, or you can explain your process/preferences/reasoning/runners-up, or whatever is most fun.
Today’s letter is Q. We knew this letter was coming. The Baby Name Wizard has literally one Q name in the girl section. (Quinn.) I’d hoped the index would fill that out a little, and it did, but, like: Queen, Queenie, Quiana, Quinnlan. The Baby Name Bible tends to have more options in order to be able to say 50,000+ on the cover (though many of them come with sarcastic/dismissive comments such as “Sounds too much like the name of a minivan” or “Would certainly stand out in an American classroom”), so I checked it next, and it did have a slightly longer Q section (20 girl names), and I guess I choose Quilla. I’m not saying I love it, but I am saying I like it and could live with it.
For boy names, I felt as if there were more possible options, but then I had a harder time picking one. Quentin, Quinn, Quincy, Quinlan. I guess I choose Quinlan, but I feel a little uncomfortable. Maybe I would choose Quinn instead, since Quinlan feels to me like someone who wanted to choose Quinn but felt it needed to be longer. Or maybe, since it would be my fifth boy, I would choose Quentin. Yes, I think I would choose Quentin, because I would feel as if I had a good explanation for it. Yes, that’s my final decision: Quentin.
Now you! If you want to! Only if it’s fun and not stressful! Feel free to adjust the game-play to be fun and not stressful!
For a girl name I like Quinn and for a boy name I like Quincy. I love the way an uppercase Q looks but this was hard to pick!
I once had a child in a classroom named Quintessa and I was surprised at how much I like it.
My very first boss had the last name Quinlan— it was interesting to me to see this used as a first name
Oooh, this is a hard one. I could actually see Quincy for a girl, and how about Quigley for a boy? The letter Q starts to look real weird after a while.
I’m going to have to go with Quinn. For both. Boy or girl. Not a huge fan of Q names.
If I’d been a boy I was going to be Quinn.
I like Quarry and Quill, Quincy and Quest.
But my final choices would be
Boy: Quincy
Girl: Quarry
That’s funny – there’s a park near me called Quincy Quarries!
I thought about the name Quarry once, and then I remembered its other definition and immediately crossed it off mentally with a sigh of regret. Poor cornered girl!
In reality I would not choose names with Q– but looking at babies and needing to name them with Qs:
Boy: Quincy
Girl: Qianna
Unquestionably going Quentin for a boy. I like it in its own right; also I have a Maeve, and Maeve Binchy wrote a book called Quentins, so it would be a cute name story.
I also saw the name Quashawn and while it wouldn’t fit with my sibset, I could very easily imagine it on a Someone’s Boy.
Every Quin /Quinn that I know is a boy. Yet it would probably be my girl pick, spelled Quinn I think.
Q is tough.
For a boy, it seems like Quest is a great noun name but maybe a bit too Khardashian for me. I do like Quincy and Quill. I think I would go with Quill as the rhyme with Will makes it comfortable to me.
For a girl, it would have to be Quinn.
Oh my gosh does the letter Q look absolutely bonkers to me right now.
I would choose Quinn for a girl and Quimby for a boy, as an homage to Beverly Cleary.
Quinn for a girl. I’m not sure if Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman is a plus or a minus, but it was a guilty pleasure of mine in the 90s.
For a boy I wavered between Quentin, Quincy, and Quinn (assuming I am having one child and don’t need to save Quinn for the girl), but came down on the Quentin side. It reminds me of Quentin in the Magicians and also Quentin in The Sound and the Fury (after whom I believe the Magicians Quentin is named) and they both die young, so that gave me pause but I got over it. I briefly considered the fact that Quincy is a character in Dracula, which is a favorite book of mine, but the character not so much.
G: Quill
B: Quincy
Looking at a list of Q names made my eyes swim!
In real life, I know a little girl named Quinton who is called Quinn. And a little girl named Quincee. I don’t love the names but if I had to choose a Q name for a girl, I’d go with Quinn.
For a boy – I think I’d use Quanah. (Quanah Parker was a fascinating person, and although we belong to a different tribe, my child would be an enrolled member of a Native American tribe so I’d feel ok about using it)
Quiteria and Quincy!
I have a Quentin already and here I am coming up with AN ADDITIONAL Q name that seems like madness. I also have a family member named Quincy.
I choose Quinn, for either gender. If it turns out that I have to give boy/girl twins names that start with Q then I think I either give up entirely, or I name them Quinn and Quilla? IDK.
Quinn, final answer.
I really like Quentin (or Quinton), but have ever been a big fan of Quinn for girls. Just personal preference. Maybe because I went to high school in the Midwest in the early 2000s, and that name was EVERYWHERE. For European origin names, I think Quincy, Quinlan, and Quimby really work, especially for boys. Quin as a nickname for a boy feels fresh to me, rather than dated (as it does for a girl). Quilla is a nice girl’s name.
Outside European origin, there are lots of great options. Plenty of Chinese names start with Q. There are many nice Native American names (if you have the background) as well as Native Central and South American options. Lots of Arabic names, too, including my favorite Q name for a boy: Qavi. For girls, Qahira is a kick-ass Urdu name.
And, of course, Black Americans have lots of beautiful names starting with Q. I’ve met/heard and like the names Quon, Qadir, Quashawn, Qwara, and Qiana.
I don’t love any Q names, but I think I’d go with Quin(n) for either gender. For a boy, I like the Quin spelling — I once read a novel where the male protagonist was Quin, short for Quinton. While I don’t love the name, I do love the character, so I could probably live with it. :) My main association with Quinn for a girl is the younger sister from Daria, which is not necessarily a good thing…but I do like Quinn best of all the Q names for girls.
Quinn for a girl, Quentin for a boy. Doesn’t feel super creative, but I’m comfortable enough with them.
Well, at least Q was an easy letter for me, since there are so few choices. Quinn for a girl, although I don’t love it. And Quentin for a boy, which I’m surprised by how much I like! It’s not one I’d ever really considered before.
If we dip into Arabic we get a LOT more Q names. I’m going to pick Qavi for a boy, Qamra for a girl. Quarrel (like the argument or the arrow) sounds like an eccentric British middle name so I’ll pick that for my either.
Thanks for the brain game!
Hmmm…
Quincy for a boy, Quinn for a girl
I’m going with Quimby for either gender.
I’d love having a reason for an unusual name, and I must’ve read all the Beverly Cleary books 100 times as a kid!
Boy: Quinton
Girl: Quinn
I like the name Quinley for a girl and Quint for a boy …
Mine:
Boy: Quimby
Girl: Quintessa
My husband’s:
Boy: Qion
Girl: Queenie
My husband just said: “I’d also love to use the name Quipper… kind of like Skipper but with a ‘qu’ sound.”
:D
No one’s picking Quarantina? (:
I like the name Quincy, but I had a horrible boss with that name, and the pronunciation issues would bug me. (Most places would probably say quin-see, but here in Massachusetts it’s quin-zee.)
So I’d go with Quiara (pronounced Kiara) and Quill.
Quinn & Quinlan
I’m going to go with Quinn for either.
Difficult! I’ve never considered Quincy before, but saying it out loud, I actually find that I like it a lot. I’d choose Quincy for a boy. For a girl, the choice is harder- I’m going to say Quintana but I’m not that excited about it.
Quintella for a girl – she would be named after my maternal aunt (who was named after her aunt or great-aunt)
Quentin for a boy
Boy: Quentin
Girl: Quinn
R: Rowena and Ransom
S: Sylvia/Savannah and Simeon
T: Thomas and Tara
U: Una and Uther
V: Vivienne/Vera and Vincent/ Vale
W: Willa and Wallace
X: Xena and Xavier
Y: Yael and Yves
Z: Zella and Zion
I would choose Quentin for a boy, because I knew one in Summer camp, and he was nice; and Quinn for a girl for Quinn Cummings, who was a child actress I really admired when I was a kid (she’s a couple of years older than me).
Loved Quinn Cummings in The Goodbye Girl and Family, and I like her now on Twitter, so I would alsobfobwith Quinn with her in mind (rather than the Quinns from Glee and Daria)
Quentin for Quentin Blake the children’s book illustrator, maybe. I liked his illustrations for Arabel’s Raven when I was a kid, though I preferred the original illustrations for Roald Dahl books over Blake’s.
Luckily, I do like Quinn for a girl. I like it for a boy too (maybe because there’s already a Quinton in the family), but I think I’ll venture out for the boy name and pick Quaid.
We have nicknamed my baby niece the Queen because she’s just so extra, so I would pick Queenie for my girl name. I’ve come to love it after calling my niece “Queenie” for almost a year. If I cheat, I would pick Esther as the formal first name, then Queenie as the nn. I read about using this as a nickname in a baby book due to Queen Esther in the bible and I’m smitten.
Quentin for a boy!
Quinette
Quade
Wow. Qs are really weird if you think about them too much. It’s like repeating a word over and over again until it has lost all meaning. It’s an O with a tail!!!
Boy: Quincy. Because my grandfather could have been Jack Klugman’s twin. Seeing my pseudo-grandfather on TV when I was little was very comforting/confusing, esp. because he died when I was 4 (my grandfather, not Quincy).
I also really REALLY like the idea of Quixote. Except spelling it.
I think Quattro is a a cute nickname for a IV (like Trey for III).
(I literally just typed Qirl instead of girl.)
Girl: Quartz? No. My head hurts now.
I’m going with Quinn and Quincy, and think they’re both pretty unisex names.
Q is tough.
I think I know a Quinlan but can’t recall how. A former student? A colleague’s child. hm. I digress.
I kinda like Quincy for a boy. Do you think it’d work for a girl? The girl Q-names are not speaking to me. Maybe I’d look for a word to use as a name? or invent something that looks/sounds nice.
Quanta?
Quark? (sounds more masculine)
Quartz, definitely has potential. Quartzite is a thing
Quartza, Quartzella, Quartzeline, Quartzalyn, Quartzette. Quartzina (reminds me of Czarina), Quartzita?
Quill?
Quilla?
Quoraline like Coraline?
Quereen?
Quartzina and Quincy
Quartzina and Quincy
Rachel and Reuben
Sarah nn Sadie and Simon
Tamsin and Thomas
Ursula and Uriah
Vivian and Vincent
Willa and Wallace
Xinnia and Xavier
Yvonne and Yarden
Zavia and Zoran
It might be different in the US but in the UK Quark is a brand of low fat soft cheese stuff beloved of Slimming World dieters.
I had the subatomic particles in mind when I listed it but I love quark, the dairy product. I don’t think the stuff I buy here (Canada) is low-fat.
My son suggested Courtney-with-a-Q but would that then be Quourtney? Quortney? Qourtney? They all look absurd.
Our Vs and Ws are basically the same! Name twins 😆
Boy: Quentin
Girl: Quinn
R: Rowena and Ransom
S: Sylvia/Savannah and Simeon
T: Thomas and Tara
U: Una and Uther
V: Vivienne/Vera and Vincent/ Vale
W: Willa and Wallace
X: Xena and Xavier
Y: Yael and Yves
Z: Zella and Zion
I am teaching a 16-ish-y.o Vera now and found it pleasing on the classlist. I also taught her older sister Vivian. Vivian and Vera a nice sibset if one likes repeating initials (I’m neither for it nor against it.)
Q really is short on options, isn’t it?
I’d think I’d have to go Quinn for a boy or a girl. Which is saying a lot because I usually think of it as a dog name after my neighbours had a very snappy collie called Quinn when I was a kid.
Quincy (boy) and Quinn (girl).
Changed my mind. I’d never considered Quaid/Quade but loved that when I saw it mentioned. Torn on spelling, I always feel strongly about using the most common spelling when there are multiple. Unsure which is, but since th game is pretend, I choose Quaid since that’s my first instinct. That frees Quincy for a girl. Feels very appropriate for a girl with all the presidential names turned girl names like Madison and Kennedy.
So, girl Quincy (nn Quin) and boy Quaid.
Oof. Quinn is my favorite for either sex but not with my last name.
Quartz, Quince, and Quill are all bolder word names than I usually prefer and also not my favorite with my last name, but they sound nice. What the hell. Quartz and Quentin.
Q: Quartz and Quentin
R: Rosa and Raphael
S: Sylvie and Samuel
T: Theodora and Timothy
U: Una and Ulysses
V: Vera and Valerian
W: Willa and Walter
X: Xenia and Xavier
Y: Yvaine and Yves
Z: Zinnia and Zachary
I like Quill and Quincy for a boy, but neither feels like my own child. I would consider Quade/Quaid, but probably go with either Quinton or Quentin, both of which I might use IRL. Quinton has the advantage of Quin as a nickname and Quentin has Quentin Coldwater and Quentin Blake. I would feel a little like I didn’t have a good enough reason to use the name, though, since it wouldn’t be a fifth child. Perhaps if he was a May baby?
For a girl, Quillian feels like a name I would admire on someone else’s child. I love Quintana though I have no connection whatever with Quintana Roo. Also, if I had both of these “q” babies, then Quintana wouldn’t work with Quinton/Quentin (even though the “qu” in Quintana has only the “k” sound and not the “kw” sound of the “qu” in Quinton/Quentin). I like Qiana, but even though Nancy at Nancy’s Baby Names says this spelling comes from a fabric, I feel like I would want it spelled Kiana. So I will go with Quetzali, which makes me very happy. At least when there are fewer choices, there would be less worry about choosing wrong and less regret about the ones not used.
Girl: Quinn
Boy: Quincy
Q is impossible. Mostly because our only absolute naming rule was that we had to like the Spanish version of the name. And Q names do not work! but since this is a hypothetical baby, I am going with Quinn for a girl and Quigley for a boy. Just because.
Quintessa and Quovadis, hands down, but on the male side I’d have to consider Quirino too.
In word names, I know a family who seriously considered Quince, and I also like Quest for other people.
Girl or boy: Quinn. Possible alternatives for a boy: Quirin or Quincy.
I was thinking about Q names when I couldn’t sleep this morning. Honestly I think I’d go with Quinn for either a boy or girl child. Maybe Quentin or Quincy for a boy. But I do like Quinn for both. It’s one of the few unisex names I like.
I usually find it more of a hassle picking boy names, in any context, but with the letter Q. I think I’ll steal the Quilla idea from you Swistle. Not my favourite name, but it actually sounds rather nice so it wouldn’t be so bad.
For a boy, I choose Quinlan, and my only reason behind it is that Loreena MCKennitt – a Canadian world music singer I quite like – has a record label called Quinlan Road so I have a positive association with this name, and it doesn’t sound too bad either. It feels very trendy though and not really my style, and I’m pretty sure most people would feel an irresistible urge to call him Quinn, and I don’t like Quinn.
Quentin for a boy, I guess.
For a girl, I do really like Quinn, but as with Rhiannon last time, it just does not work with my last name. So, I’m going with Quiteria, a saint’s name that recently caught my eye. Much more unusual than my typical classic first name picks, but when you’re dealing with Q names, might as well embrace it!
It’s so interesting how acceptable Kingsley is, and how little Queenie or Queensley has taken off!
I’ll go with Que for a boy and Quinn for a girl!
Quentin & Queralt
A name to consider when one contemplated the slim pickings for Q: Quintina. I learned this name from the book The Oregon Trail by Rinker Buck. He says it was a popular name for fifth born daughters. A pioneer who died on the trail, whose life and reburial Buck explores, was named Quintina.
I am familiar with Quintana as a name. It is a state in Mexico, “Keen-tana” is more of the Spanish pronunciation.
Joan Didion’s daughter is named Quintana.
Well, Q is the hardest one for me for sure. Or maybe the easiest, since the only Q name I would actually use is Quinn. Boy or girl. It’s not great with my last name, but I could live with the combo, and I do like the name.
In this hypothetical world where pronunciation and spelling would not be an issue, I would name a daughter Quetzali; Quinn for a boy.
Quinn for either. I like it for a girl and love it for a boy, so Quinn it is.
Quinn Aurelia or Quinn Raphael, I think.
I love Suzanne’s idea of using Quimby! I recently read through all the Ramona books with my son so it would have special meaning. I actually am kind of loving that name right now even though I thought I disliked Q names!
For a girl I’d choose Quinn and call her Quinnie (I love nicknames that end in —nnie). Maybe I could even get away with Winnie as a nickname
Q is so hard!
I’d pick Quintana for a girl, and Quentin for a boy, but I can’t imagine using either IRL.
Quill or Quest for either gender.
Quincy is my favourite Q name, I like it for a boy or girl but prefer it for a boy.
I quite like Quilla for a girl so I think I will go for Quincy and Quilla.
If I used Quincy for a girl, the boy name would be Quentin maybe? Or actually I’m really drawn to Quest even though it’s not my normal style. Quincy and Quest? I like that but still prefer Quincy and Quilla.
I’m pleasantly surprised, there were more options than I thought there would be for Q and I actually like all the names I picked!
Inspired by another poster I’m going to start keeping track of all my choices:
Quincy and Quilla
Ranulph and Rhiannon
Sorley and Sorrel
Tallis and Twila
Unwin and Undine
Vaughan and Vaila
Woodrow and Winifred
Xanti and Xanthe
Yves and Yvonne
Zigmund ‘Ziggy’ and Zelda
I’m late to this one, but oh well…
Quinn for a girl, Quill for a boy
Quinn for a girl, Quaid for a boy
Quentin & Quilla
I think I would use Quinn for either (in fact my daughters have four friends of both genders named Quin(n)). I also have a friend with the last name Quaye, and I think I would use that as well. Love Quimby too and someone mentioned Quest above, I wouldn’t use it as a first name, but it would make a kickass Q middle initial!
I like Quentin for a boy, as long as I could divorce myself from the Tarantino connection. For a girl, I like Quill, or maybe Quilla.
Quinn and Quentin.
When I was in middle school, I went through a very weird phase–quirky, you might say–where I was obsessed with the letter Q. I told everyone how it was my favorite letter. So I’ve put a lot of thought into Q names, wanting to use one someday.
For a girl, I am drawn to Quintessa because it sounds mysterious and pretty. But does it have enough history to back it up? For a boy, Quentin is obviously a great name, and would be especially appropriate for me because he’d be the fifth child in our family, but it unfortunately sounds bad with my surname! So does Quintus, which is the only other name I remember finding that surely is related to the number five (if there are others, I must have set them aside for some other reason). I’d definitely consider Quentin in real life for a middle name, but here I need to choose a first name…
Ultimately, I think I feel a little embarrassed of my Q phase, so I’d just choose the name that feels the most common and well-known and normal to me: Quinn for a girl or a boy. I would claim it as meaning “fifth child” even though web searches say it means, somewhat un-inspiringly, “descendent of Conn.” Intention matters in naming, right?
And I would give the child a middle name beginning with R so that their initials would be QRS, and then I would be very happy indeed!
Q: Quinn and Quinn
R: Rebecca and Rocco
S: Susanna and Solomon
T: Theresa and Theodore
U: Ursula and Ulrich
V: Victoria and Victor
W: Winifred and William
X: Xandra and Xavier
Y: Yvette and Yakob
Z: Zelie and Zechariah
One of my childhood friends was a Quinn, and I’ve always liked her name — and it’s always read girl to me. Quinn and Quentin.