Unisex, used for both girls and boys · Irish · International
Quinn
QuinnSay it KWIN
- Meaning today
- Wise, intelligent, chief
- Original meaning
- "descendant of Conn; conn, "head, sense, reason, intelligence"" Patrick Woulfe
- Say it
- KWIN
- Other spellings
- Quin
Quinn
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Quinn meaning
Quinn is an international unisex name of Irish origin, used for both girls and boys.
Descendant of Conn; conn, "head, sense, reason, intelligence"
Also used to mean: wise, intelligent, chief
Quinn is the English form of the Irish surname Ó Cuinn, "descendant of Conn". Patrick Woulfe's Irish Names and Surnames glosses conn as head, sense, reason and intelligence, and also a freeman, and lists several unrelated Quinn families, from a branch of the Dál gCais in Clare to chiefs in Antrim and Longford. Name lists give Quinn as "wise", "intelligent" or "chief", which fit those senses. Once only a surname, Quinn is now used as a first name for both girls and boys, especially in the US. It is a single crisp syllable, said KWIN, and goes well with Indian surnames.
Source: Patrick Woulfe, Irish Names and Surnames (1923) · entry Ó Cuinn · See the entry · checked 25 Oct 2026
References: Woulfe, Irish Names and Surnames, Ó Cuinn (Library Ireland)
Popularity abroad
- #97 United States, girls 2025 (down 1 from 96 in 2024)
US Social Security Administration - #263 England and Wales, girls 2025
Office for National Statistics
Official birth registrations. India publishes no national name statistics.
Spellings
Quinn · Quin