Contents [hide]

Quill History Early Origins Early History Spelling Variations Early Notables Ranking

United States Canada Australia New Zealand

Contemporary Notables Related Stories Citations

Quill History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
Ireland
Scotland

The surname Quill comes from the Irish "Ó Cuill," meaning hazel. Because of the similarity between "cuill" and "coill" meaning wood, the surname was often translated into Woods. 1

Early Origins of the Quill family

The surname Quill was first found in Counties Cork and Kerry (Irish:Ciarraí) part of the former County Desmond (14th-17th centuries), located in Southwestern Ireland, in Munster province, where it belonged to a distinguished bardic family.

The Ó Cuill family of Kilnamagh had two members worthy of an obituary in the Annals: Cinnfaelidh Ó Cuill (d.1048), chief poet of Munster, and Cinnfealidh Ó Cuill or Kinealy O'Quill (d.1507), Chief of His Name.

Early History of the Quill family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Quill research. Another 35 words (2 lines of text) covering the year 1692 is included under the topic Early Quill History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Quill Spelling Variations

Spelling variations of this family name include: Quill, O'Quill, Woods and others.

Early Notables of the Quill family

Notable amongst the family name at this time was

the O'Quill family of County Kerry

Quill Ranking

In the United States, the name Quill is the 16,040^th most popular surname with an estimated 2,487 people with that name. 2

Quill migration to the United States +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Quill Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

John Quill, who settled in Boston in 1762
Thomas Quill, who was bound out as an apprentice in Philadelphia in 1771
Thomas Quill, who landed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1773 3

Quill Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Timothy Quill, who arrived in New York in 1848 3
John Quill, who was naturalized in Michigan in 1850
John Quill, who was naturalized in New Orleans in 1851
Denis Quill, who arrived in New York in 1853
John Quill, who arrived in Mississippi in 1857 3
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Quill migration to Canada +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Quill Settlers in Canada in the 18th Century

Mr. Thomas Quill U.E. who settled in Parr Town, Saint John, New Brunswick c. 1784 4

Quill Settlers in Canada in the 19th Century

Thomas Quill, who arrived in Saint John, New Brunswick in 1834
Thomas Quill, aged 26, a labourer, who arrived in Saint John, New Brunswick in 1834 aboard the brig "Ann & Mary" from Cork, Ireland
Catherine Quill, aged 22, who arrived in Saint John, New Brunswick in 1834 aboard the brig "Ann & Mary" from Cork, Ireland

Quill migration to Australia +

Emigration to Australia followed the First Fleets of convicts, tradespeople and early settlers. Early immigrants include:

Quill Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century

Miss Ellen Quill, (b. 1837), aged 14, Irish country servant who was convicted in Limerick, Ireland for 15 years for stealing, transported aboard the "Blackfriar" on 24th January 1851, arriving in Tasmania (Van Diemen's Land) 5
Miss Mary Quill, (b. 1836), aged 15, Irish nursery maid who was convicted in Limerick, Ireland for 15 years for stealing, transported aboard the "Blackfriar" on 24th January 1851, arriving in Tasmania (Van Diemen's Land), she died in 1879 5

Quill migration to New Zealand +

Emigration to New Zealand followed in the footsteps of the European explorers, such as Captain Cook (1769-70): first came sealers, whalers, missionaries, and traders. By 1838, the British New Zealand Company had begun buying land from the Maori tribes, and selling it to settlers, and, after the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, many British families set out on the arduous six month journey from Britain to Aotearoa to start a new life. Early immigrants include:

Quill Settlers in New Zealand in the 19th Century

Mr. Thomas Quill, Scottish settler travelling from Glasgow aboard the ship "Strathfieldsaye" arriving in Port Chalmers, Dunedin, Otago, South Island, New Zealand on 29th April 1858 6
Mr. William Quill, Scottish settler travelling from Glasgow aboard the ship "Storm Cloud" arriving in Dunedin, Otago, South Island, New Zealand on 27th April 1860 6
Mr. Maurice Quill, Scottish settler travelling from Glasgow aboard the ship "Storm Cloud" arriving in Dunedin, Otago, South Island, New Zealand on 27th April 1860 6

Contemporary Notables of the name Quill (post 1700) +

Eric Quill (b. 1978), American soccer player
Gene Quill (1927-1989), American jazz musician
Michael Joseph Quill (1905-1966), American labor leader born in County Kerry, Ireland. Quill was active in the movement for Irish independence before emigrating to the United States in 1926
Timothy Quill (1901-1967), Irish Labour Party politician
Máirín Quill (b. 1936), former Irish Progressive Democrats politician
Greg Quill (1947-2013), Australian-born, Canadian musician, singer, songwriter and journalist at the Toronto Star
Jeffrey Kindersley Quill (1913-1996), British Royal Air Force officer

Citations +

MacLysaght, Edward, The Surnames of Ireland. Ireland: Irish Academic Press, sixth edition, 1985. Print. (ISBN 0-7165-2366-3)
"What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)
Rubincam, Milton. The Old United Empire Loyalists List. Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc, 1976. (Originally published as; United Empire Loyalists. The Centennial of the Settlement of Upper Canada. Rose Publishing Company, 1885.) ISBN 0-8063-0331-X
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 13th October 2020). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/blackfriar
New Zealand Yesteryears Passenger Lists 1800 to 1900 (Retrieved 26th March 2019). Retrieved from http://www.yesteryears.co.nz/shipping/passlist.html