Is Quirinius a Christian name?

Not in origin. Luke 2:2 names Quirinius only as the Roman governor of Syria during the registration, while the martyrs the church remembers carried the different name Quirinus.

Are There Biblical Boy Names Starting With Q? Quartus, Quirinius, and Two Martyr Names

Paul's letter to the Romans ends its greetings with "Erastus, the city treasurer, and our brother Quartus greet you" (Romans 16:23). That half-verse is all the Bible says about Quartus, and he is the only believer in the New Testament whose name begins with Q.

The other New Testament Q name belongs to a Roman official: Luke 2:2 dates the first registration to the time "while Quirinius was governor of Syria." One baby-name list promises more than 80 biblical Q boy names, while the New Testament names two.

Outside scripture, Q names entered Christian use through martyrs. Several early martyrs carried Quirinus, a name one letter away from the governor's, and Quentin goes back to a 3rd-century missionary martyred in Gaul.

Quick Facts

Q names in the New Testament: Quartus and Quirinius, both men
The one New Testament Q believer: Quartus, Romans 16:23
Named only to date a registration: Quirinius, governor of Syria (Luke 2:2)
Best-recorded Q martyr: Quirinus, bishop of Siscia, d. 309
Surnames with no saint in their histories: Quinn and Quincy

Whose name in the Bible starts with Q?

In the New Testament, two people, and both are men: Quartus, a Christian who sends greetings in Romans 16:23, and Quirinius, the governor of Syria named in Luke 2:2. Only Quartus belonged to the church; Luke mentions Quirinius to date a Roman registration.

Some lists add "Quoheleth" from Ecclesiastes. The New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition (NRSVUE) opens that book with "The words of the Teacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem" (Ecclesiastes 1:1), so it calls the speaker "the Teacher" and gives no Q name.

Q boy names sorted by where each name comes from
Name	Where it comes from	Christian link	Source
Quartus	Romans 16:23	A believer greeted as "our brother" in Paul's letter	NRSVUE
Quirinius	Luke 2:2	None; a Roman governor whose term dates the registration	NRSVUE
Quirinus	Early martyr lists	Several martyrs; the bishop of Siscia (d. 309) has genuine Acts	Catholic Encyclopedia, 1911
Quentin	French form of the Roman Quintinus	A 3rd-century missionary martyred in Gaul	Behind the Name
Quinn and Quincy	Irish and English surnames	No saint or biblical bearer in their name histories	Behind the Name

Who was Quartus in Romans 16:23?

Quartus was a Christian in the group sending greetings with Paul when Romans was written, and the letter calls him "our brother." He is the last of eight people whose greetings appear in Romans 16:21-23.

Timothy, called Paul's coworker, heads the list, followed by Lucius, Jason and Sosipater. Tertius then greets the readers in his own voice as "the writer of this letter," and Gaius is named as host "to me and to the whole church."

Quartus closes the list beside Erastus, "the city treasurer." Unlike Erastus and Gaius, he is given no office, household or deed, so "our brother" is the whole of his description.

Quirinius and Quirinus are different names

Quirinius appears in Luke 2:1-2, where a decree from Caesar Augustus orders a registration "while Quirinius was governor of Syria." Luke uses him to date the event, and the passage gives him no faith and no further part in the story.

Quirinus, without the second i, is the name several early martyrs carried. The 1911 Catholic Encyclopedia finds them in the Martyrologium Hieronymianum and in early medieval martyrologies, and it judges their records very differently.

The strongest record belongs to Quirinus, bishop of Siscia (present-day Sisak in Croatia), who was drowned with a millstone around his neck in 309. The encyclopedia says the genuine Acts of his martyrdom still exist, along with a hymn in his honor by Prudentius.

A Roman martyr buried in the catacomb of Praetextatus on the Via Appia has his name and grave in the early lists, although later legend turned him into a tribune. For the remaining martyrs of that name, the encyclopedia finds only legendary Acts, "no historical account," or "no trustworthy historical reports."

The bishop of Siscia's feast falls on 4 June. Quirinius, the governor, has a verse in Luke but no Christian life behind it.

Which later Q names have a saint behind them?

Quentin does. Behind the Name gives it as the French form of the Roman name Quintinus, borne by a 3rd-century missionary martyred in Gaul, and says the Normans brought the name to England.

That entry gives no place, date or story for the saint beyond those words, so Quentin's Christian link is real but thinly recorded, far less detailed than the Acts of Quirinus of Siscia.

Quincy began as an English surname taken from the place name Cuinchy, which goes back to the Roman name Quintus, and Behind the Name ties it to no saint. John Quincy Adams received it from his great-grandfather John Quincy.

Quinn began as an Irish surname, and Behind the Name's history of it names no saint.