Here are 14 literary boy names that start with Q, running from “Quasimodo” to “Quarles”. They come from classic novels, adventure tales, mysteries, and modern fiction. Some are real names with long histories, like “Quentin” and “Quinn”. Others are invented by authors, like “Queequeg” and “Quilp”. You can use this list to name a baby, a fictional character, a pet, or a story hero.

Literary boy names are names borrowed from characters, authors, or famous works of fiction and poetry. Many parents choose them because they carry a story with them. For example, “Quixote” comes from Cervantes’s knight, whose tale from the early 1600s still shapes how we think of idealists today.

Below you’ll find the table with the name, origin, pronunciation, meaning, and description of each entry.

Name: The name itself, listed alphabetically. You can scan this first to spot the ones that catch your eye.

Origin: The language or culture the name comes from, including invented names. This helps you understand where a name started and how it traveled.

Pronunciation: A simple phonetic guide showing how to say each name aloud. It saves you from guessing, especially with unusual choices like “Quixote” or “Quirinus”.

Meaning: What the name means, or a note when an author made it up. You can use it to find a name that fits the feeling you want.

Description: The character or book connected to each name, with a short note on who they are. It shows you the story behind the name before you choose it.

Literary boy names

NameOriginPronunciationMeaning
QuasimodoLatinKWAH-zee-MOH-doh“As if formed” or “almost”
QueequegNantucket/Polynesian-inspired (invented)KWEE-kwegInvented name with no fixed meaning
QuentinLatin via FrenchKWEN-tin“Fifth”
QuillEnglishKWILWriting feather, or a spine
QuilpEnglish (invented)KWILPInvented surname, no fixed meaning
QuinceyEnglish/FrenchKWIN-see“Fifth son” or “from the fifth estate”
QuinnIrish GaelicKWIN“Descendant of Conn”, or “wisdom”
QuintLatinKWINT“Fifth”
QuirinusLatinkwih-RY-nusPossibly “spear-bearer”
QuixoteSpanishkee-HOH-tay“Thigh armor” (from quixote, cuisse)
QuoyleEnglish (invented)KWOILVariant of “coil”, as in a coiled rope
QuatermainEnglishKWAH-ter-maynPossibly “four hands” or “quarter-man”
QuigleyIrish GaelicKWIG-lee“Descendant of Coigleach”, meaning “untidy”
QuarlesEnglishKWORLZ“Quarrel” or “crossbow bolt”

Descriptions

Quasimodo
The bell-ringer of Notre-Dame in Victor Hugo’s The Hunchback of Notre-Dame (1831). He is named after the Sunday on which he was found as a foundling.
Queequeg
The tattooed harpooneer from the South Seas who becomes Ishmael’s close friend in Herman Melville’s Moby-Dick.
Quentin
Name of Quentin Compson, the troubled Harvard student in William Faulkner’s The Sound and the Fury. Also the title hero of Walter Scott’s Quentin Durward.
Quill
A name for writers and dreamers, used for several fantasy and adventure characters. It evokes the feather pen of classic literature.
Quilp
Daniel Quilp, the grotesque, malicious dwarf moneylender in Charles Dickens’s The Old Curiosity Shop.
Quincey
Quincey Morris, the brave Texan adventurer in Bram Stoker’s Dracula, who sacrifices himself in the final fight against the Count.
Quinn
A name used for heroes in many modern novels, including Daniel Quinn in Paul Auster’s City of Glass, a mystery writer pulled into a strange case.
Quint
Quint is the grizzled shark hunter in Peter Benchley’s Jaws. A different Peter Quint haunts Henry James’s The Turn of the Screw.
Quirinus
Quirinus Quirrell is the nervous Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, who shares his head with Voldemort.
Quixote
Don Quixote is the idealistic knight who tilts at windmills in Miguel de Cervantes’s novel, one of the most influential works in Western literature.
Quoyle
Quoyle is the awkward, unlucky newspaperman who moves to Newfoundland in E. Annie Proulx’s The Shipping News.
Quatermain
Allan Quatermain is the adventurer-hunter in H. Rider Haggard’s King Solomon’s Mines and its sequels, an early model for the action hero.
Quigley
Used for Quigley, the Australian-flavoured hero of Quigley Down Under in fiction and film, a long-range marksman. Also a minor figure in several novels.
Quarles
Used for Francis Quarles, the 17th-century English poet of Emblemes, and for Quarles in Anthony Powell’s novels.
If you think there is a missing term, let us know using the contact form.