When the name originates from Ireland, the Isle of Man and Scotland, it is an
Anglicisation of the
GaelicMac Phàil (Scottish) Mac Pháil (Irish) Mac Phóil (Irish) "Mac Phaayl" (Manx) meaning "son of Pàil/Páill/Póil/Paayl". These are Gaelic
patronymic forms of the personal name
Paul.[1] When originating in Ireland, the name is sometimes a variant of the surname
Quill.[1] When of English origin, the surname can be derived from the
Old French/
Middle Englishquaille, meaning "
quail".[3] In this way, the name would be used as a nickname for a timorous or lecherous person – words that describe this species of bird.[1] The name is recorded in the Isle of Man as MacFayle in 1511 and MacQuayle, Quayle in 1540.[3] The name is recorded in England as Quayle in 1327.[3]
George Quayle Cannon (1827–1901) early member of the Quorum of Twelve Apostles of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and U.S. Congressman (Utah Territorial Delegate)
Fictional characters
Quayle, an NPC in the Baldur's Gate series of computer role-playing games
^
abcReaney, Percy Hilde; Wilson, Richard Middlewood (2006). A Dictionary of English Surnames (PDF) (3rd ed.). London: Routledge. p. 2563.
ISBN0-203-99355-1.
Surname list
This page lists people with the
surnameQuayle. If an
internal link intending to refer to a specific person led you to this page, you may wish to change that
link by adding the person's
given name(s) to the link.