Where did the surname Quintal originate?

Answer 1

According to http://www.4crests.com/quintal-coat-of-arms.html This surname of QUINTAL is a Spanish and Catalan topographic name for someone who lived on a piece of land subject to rent of one-fifth of its produce. The name was from the Old Spanish QUINTANA, and rendered in medieval documents in the Latin form QUINTANA (fifth). There are numerous places named with this word, and the surname may also be a habitation name from any of these. Surnames derived from placenames are divided into two broad categories; topographic names and habitation names. Topographic names are derived from general descriptive references to someone who lived near a physical feature such as an oak tree, a hill, a stream or a church. Habitation names are derived from pre-existing names denoting towns, villages and farmsteads. Other classes of local names include those derived from the names of rivers, individual houses with signs on them, regions and whole countries. The name is also spelt QUINT, QUINTERO, QUINTAS and QUINTO. .... more at above address The word also has an old french origin as a weight of measure (100 kilos - a hundredweight) and may have been applied to an overweight man and his subsequent family.