The unusual name Colquitt was a one-hit wonder in the U.S. baby name data in 1913:
- 1915: unlisted
- 1914: unlisted
- 1913: 5 baby boys named Colquitt [debut]
- 1912: unlisted
- 1911: unlisted
Why?
My guess is the influence of the 25th governor of Texas, Oscar Branch Colquitt. He was in office for two terms, from 1911 to 1915. (The governor’s term in Texas wasn’t extended to four years until the 1970s.)
Interestingly, the Social Security Death Index (SSDI) data suggests that peak usage was a bit earlier in the 1910s:
- 1916: 1 person named Colquitt
- 1915: no one named Colquitt
- 1914: 6 people named Colquitt
- 1913: 5 people named Colquitt
- 1912: 5 people named Colquitt
- 1911: 8 people named Colquitt
- 1910: 10 people named Colquitt
- 1909: 2 people named Colquitt
- 1908: 1 person named Colquitt
(His initial election win would have occurred in November of 1910.)
Anecdotally, most of the graves I found for men with the first and middle names “Oscar Colquitt” were born in 1912. Some examples:
- Oscar Colquitt Lipsey, b. 1910 in Texas
- Oscar Colquitt Landolt, b. 1911 in Texas
- Oscar Colquitt Arnold, b. 1911 in Texas
- Oscar Colquitt Went, b. 1912 in Texas
- Oscar Colquitt Sanders, b. 1912 in Texas
- Oscar Colquitt Hanks, b. 1912 in Texas
- Oscar Colquitt Wideman, b. 1913 in Texas
The surname Colquitt originated on the Isle of Man, but the meaning is unknown.
What are your thoughts on Colquitt as a first name?
Sources:
- Oscar Branch Colquitt – Wikipedia
- Hanks, Patrick. (Ed.) Dictionary of American Family Names. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003.