Type Surname
Usage Literature
Meaning & History
Created by the Spanish author Miguel de Cervantes for the main character in his novel Don Quixote (1605), about a nobleman who goes mad after reading too many heroic romances and decides to become a wandering knight under the name Don Quixote. His real name in part one of the book is conjectured to be Quixada or Quesada [1], though in part two (published 10 years after part one) it is revealed as Alonso Quixano [2]. The Spanish suffix -ote means "large".