Frequency: (445)
(number of times this surname appears in a sample database of 88.7 million names, representing one third of the 1997 US population)
1. Irish and Scottish: Anglicized form of Gaelic Mac Phóil (see McFall).
2. Irish: variant of Quill 1.
3. English: from Middle English quaille ‘quail’, a nickname for a timorous, lecherous, or fat person, all qualities that were ascribed to the bird.
4. In one family this is an Americanized form of the Ashkenazic Jewish ornamental surname Kvalvaser, meaning ‘spring water’ in Yiddish.
See the Key to the Dictionary or consult the General Introduction for further explanation.
