Quarles
An English surname that most likely began as a place name, probably linked to quarryland or a Norfolk locality.
The #3,631 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 31,569 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The surname is usually explained as locational, from Quarles in Norfolk, though early writers also connected it with words for a quarry or stone quarry. The place-name itself may reflect a dialect form influenced by Anglo-French or Middle English words for quarrying, ultimately pointing to land where stone was dug. Because the early forms are sparse, the exact route is not certain.
History
Historical surname dictionaries place the family name in Norfolk, and one 19th-century writer treated Quarles as the original home of the family. The name is best known today through the poet Francis Quarles, born in Essex in 1592, showing that the surname had already spread beyond its place of origin by the early modern period.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Francis Quarles, one of the best-known bearers of the name, helped make Quarles familiar in English literary history.
From the historical record
“A. W. Moore, p. 15. QUARLES. Bel. to Quarles (Norf.), a.d. 1 501-2 same spelling [the lack of suffici- ently early forms precludes a definite opinion on the etymology, but the name looks like a dial. pron. of A.-Fr. quarels= quarries: see under Quarel(l] QUARMBYl (Scand. ) Bel. to Quarmby QUARNBY J (Yorks), 14th…”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)