Quenton
A masculine name of Old English origin meaning "the queen's town".
Name Census estimates that about 2,838 living Americans carry the first name Quenton. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Quenton today is around 34 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Quenton births was 1990 (102 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Quenton. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
2.8K
~ 1 in 120,773 Americans
Peak year
1990
102 babies that year
Average age
34
years old
2024 SSA rank
#7,590
Tracked since 1917
Census
Quenton in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,138 people with the first name Quenton, which placed it at #7,210 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#7,210
National first-name rank
People counted
2.1K
2,138 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.7
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
50.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Quenton
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Quenton is Black at 50.7%. The next largest groups are White (36.3%) and Two or More Races (6.8%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Quenton described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Quenton at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American50.7% · 1,083
- White36.3% · 777
- Two or more races6.8% · 145
- Hispanic or Latino3.9% · 84
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.4% · 30
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.9% · 19
Popularity
Quenton: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Quenton from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 821 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Quenton by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Quenton during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Quentons live
The SSA's state-level files cover 20 states and territories. Texas, Georgia, Florida recorded the most babies named Quenton, while Michigan, Kentucky, Arkansas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 34 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Quenton
The given name Quenton has its origins in the medieval English language, derived from the Old English name "Quinton." This name likely emerged during the Anglo-Saxon period in England, which spanned from the 5th to the 11th centuries AD. The earliest form of the name was "Cwena tun," which translates to "the queen's estate" or "the queen's village."
The name Quenton may have been initially used to refer to individuals who lived in settlements or villages belonging to or associated with a queen. As the name evolved over time, it took on various spellings, such as Quinton, Quynton, and eventually, Quenton.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Quenton can be found in the Domesday Book, a comprehensive survey of landholdings commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. The book mentions a place called "Quintone" in Gloucestershire, which may have been named after an individual bearing the name Quenton.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Quenton. One of the earliest examples is Quenton Wervelle, a 14th-century English nobleman who served as a knight and member of the royal household under King Edward III (1312-1377).
Another prominent figure with this name was Quenton Marez, a 15th-century French scholar and theologian who taught at the University of Paris and wrote extensively on theological and philosophical subjects.
In the 16th century, Quenton Crispe (1548-1629) was an English merchant and explorer who traveled to the West Indies and was among the first Englishmen to establish trade relationships with the indigenous peoples of the Caribbean.
During the 17th century, Quenton Durward (1630-1688) was a Scottish soldier and adventurer who gained fame for his exploits in the service of various European rulers, including the King of France and the Duke of Burgundy.
In more recent times, Quenton Walker (1892-1976) was an American artist and painter known for his vibrant landscapes and cityscapes depicting scenes from his native New England region.
While the name Quenton has roots in medieval England, it has since spread to various parts of the world, particularly through English-speaking communities. However, its usage has remained relatively uncommon compared to more popular given names.
People
Quenton + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Quenton as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with Q
Other first names starting with Q with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Quenton: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Quenton?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,838 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Quenton going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 120,773 US residents.
Is Quenton a common name?
We classify Quenton as "Rare". It ranks above 95% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 3,194 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Quenton most popular?
The single biggest year for Quenton was 1990, when 102 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Quenton is about 34 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Quenton in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,138 people with the name Quenton, or 0.71 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #7,210 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Quenton in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Quenton?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Quenton appears almost entirely male. Of the 2,128 people counted with this name, 99.8% were male and only a very small share were female. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Quenton?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Quenton is Black at 50.7%. The next largest groups are White (36.3%) and Two or More Races (6.8%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Quenton most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Quenton in the 2020 Census, accounting for 50.7% (1,083 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Quenton in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Quenton a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Quenton in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Quenton still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Quenton in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Quenton can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people share the name Quenton?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.