Is Tarquin a real name?

[littlepetit]

I always hear ‘tarquin’ as a bit of a joke ‘posh’ name but thinking about it I have NEVER met or encountered a single tarquin or even heard of any friends-of-friends-of-friends called tarquin.

Is it actually a real given name or a myth?

[Purpleboo22]

Yes, Tarquin is a real name and yes it’s a posh name…but I’m on a one woman mission to change that perception as I called my kid Tarquin and we’re certainly not posh!

He was Tarquin all through my pregnancy and whilst I had a wobble at the end my friends and family said they couldn’t imagine him called anything else and so I stuck with it and Tarquin he is, and I really can’t imagine him being called anything else - although weirdly St John was on my list!

He would have been Rupert which was my ‘boy’s name’ through childhood but when I was told I couldn’t have kids I gave the name to my next dog, then discovered I was pregnant so needed an equally cool name.

Anyways, just to confirm there has been a Tarquin in the past 10 years - mine, and he was born in 2016. He’s fabulous, funny, kind, caring and clever. And I couldn’t care less if people don’t like his name, he does, and if he doesn’t when he’s older then he can change it.

[MrsPelligrinoPetrichor]

I went to school with one.

[MrsPelligrinoPetrichor]

**he definitely wasn't posh,this was 40 years ago.

[SirVixofVixHall]

I knew a Tarquin, I have lost touch with him now. He was very nice, so that colours my view of the name.

[ElizabethinherGermanGarden]

There was a boy called Tarquin at university who gave quite a lot of people scabies.

[SirVixofVixHall]

I also know a StJohn (in his fifties) a Ptolemy (teenager) and a Crispin (about forty).

[Tal45]

Tarquin is just awful but oh my I wish I'd called DS Crispin now, for some reason I just love it, but I'd forgotten it existed as you just don't hear it - maybe my love for it is coloured by knowing a rather hot one back in the day!

[CharitySchmarity]

I've never met anyone called Tarquin, but then I don't move in those circles. I meet people called Steve and Andy and Kevin. I know my place! 😉

[SertralineAndTherapy]

@cafedesreves

Yup I taught one known as Tarka. My friend also had a boyfriend called Tarquin. Ludicrous!!

I also taught one known as Tarka. Might even be the same one if it was recent. Are we colleagues?

[rattlinbog]

@SertralineAndTherapy a good while ago!

[WorkingItOutAsIGo]

I know a Tarquin: very nice and very posh and very titled.

[Berlinlover]

I worked with someone called Tudor years ago.

[Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g]

Tudor is a Welsh name, isn't it?

On the subject of unusual names, I once met a woman called Innogen. She was clearly utterly fed up with explaining why her parents had saddled her with a name that was going to be read/heard as Imogen nine times out of ten. I think the explanation was something to do with Imogen in Cymbeline being a mis-spelling of Innogen, which is a very old name. Fascinating, but tiresome for her.

[Inkypot]

@Sockpile

According to this article no babies have been named Tarquin in the UK in the last 10 years.

Perfect for the people who want an unusual unique name!

[TheShellBeach]

I know a woman who went out with a bloke called Hereward.
A few months after they split up she started going out with another bloke - whose name was also Hereward.
I mean, what are the chances?

[SertralineAndTherapy]

@TheShellBeach

I know a woman who went out with a bloke called Hereward.
A few months after they split up she started going out with another bloke - whose name was also Hereward.
I mean, what are the chances?

Was that a wake-up call for her?

[TheShellBeach]

@SertralineAndTherapy

Was that a wake-up call for her?

It took me a couple of minutes to work out what you were getting at there.

[TheShellBeach]

I was at school with a Simeon, whose brothers were Pyramus and Tobias.

[AlwaysGinPlease]

I worked with a Tarquin many years ago. He was a pompous twat.

[MyGrandmaLizzie]

Went to school with a St John (double barrel surname too). He was quite posh but not as posh as the Viscount's son in the year above.
Doesn't use both parts of his surname now. He's late 50s.

[AmberGer]

Definitely a real name.
I have never met one but if I did, I'd imagine him to be late teens, dark floppy haired surfer from Australia with a goatee 😆

[Riverlee]

@TheShellBeach

I know a woman who went out with a bloke called Hereward.
A few months after they split up she started going out with another bloke - whose name was also Hereward.
I mean, what are the chances?

How are? My son was at school with a Hereward, aged around twenty two now.

[Riverlee]

There was a Tarquin in the town I grew up. He was a few years older than me. I remember the name because he went missing and was found by the local sports centre.

Phinneas will become more popular now, as Billy Eilish’s brother, also a singer and producer, is called Phinneas/Finneas.

In Schmigadoon, Alun Cummings plays Aloysius Menlove, the mayor. Aloysius deserves a revival (and just realised what his surname was - if you watch this you’ll get the joke).

[Riapia]

Was Tarka the otter’s name Tarquin?
Tarka just a nickname.

[caringcarer]

I know an adult Tarquin, we call him Quinn and I did not realise his real name was Tarquin for a couple of years. I also know an adult Tristan. Both nice people and actually not too posh but both do have posh parents.