Courtney
Masculine · “of Courtenay”
Courtney is given to both — 23,033 boys and 258,399 girls since 1880. See Courtney as a girl nameSee other names given to both
Courtney was a man's name first, and before that a French noble house — the Courtenays, who came to England in the twelfth century and held the earldom of Devon for four hundred years.
How old is the name Courtney?
Courtney first appears in US birth records in 1884 — 141 years ago. The typical Courtney alive today was born around 1984, making them about 41 years old. About 20,000 people named Courtney are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Courtney most popular?
Courtney peaked in 1977, reaching #254 nationally. Today it ranks #3128, 2,874 places below that high. See the whole 1977 chart.
Where it comes from
From Curtenus to Courtney
The story of Courtney
The Courtenays were a French noble house who arrived in England after the Conquest and became earls of Devon. Their surname crossed into given-name use in the nineteenth century, first for sons — a common English habit for families with aristocratic connections, real or hoped-for. Masculine Courtney held a place in American records through the twentieth century, peaking in the late 1960s, just as the feminine use was overtaking it.
Meaningscholars disagree
of Courtenay
From the French place name Courtenay, generally read as a Gallo-Roman personal name Curtenus plus a suffix marking a landholding. An older account derives the surname from the Old French court nez, 'short nose', which medieval chroniclers repeated about the family. The place-name reading is the better supported.
How the name formed
- Curtenus
- Courtenay
- Courtney
Related forms: Courtenay · Cortney · Courtenay
Pronouncing Courtney
KORT-nee
Two syllables, stress on the first. Said identically for either sex and in every spelling.
Nicknames for Courtney
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1884
- Most boys named
- 1979802 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #254reached in 1977
- Change vs 2022
- −33.3%38 in 2025, from 57
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Courtney in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Courtenay in French — related form
- Cortney in English — spelling variant
- Courtenay in English — spelling variant
Strongest US states over the last decade: Alabama, Texas, Georgia.
Courtneys among us
people named Courtney are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 44,949 born in 2025 was named Courtney
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Courtney
- #3128
- Courtney on the 2025 chart
- #881
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Courtney went to 38 boys in 2025, but Kourtney is the same name said out loud. Together the 2 spellings went to 47, which makes it the 881st most-given boys’ name of the year — 2,247 places above the chart.
- Courtney38
- Kourtney9
About 1 boy in 36,342 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 44,949 for Courtney itself.
Spellings are grouped by a fixed rule that folds interchangeable English spellings of one sound (ck/k, ph/f, x/ks, a non-initial y for i) and keeps vowels apart, so Sean and Shawn stay separate names. It errs towards splitting: a family here is never larger than the truth. SSA national data, 2025. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Harlan test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Courtney's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Harlan climbed just as high around 1924, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Harlan's path sketches the road Courtney is walking now.
Courtney sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Courtney is headed
Courtney is easing off slowly — about 21% fewer babies a year by 2030 if the trend continues.
Medium confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Courtney beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Courtney in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A documented Norman family with a traceable place of origin and four centuries in England.
- Court is a short, plain form available immediately.
- It has a genuine masculine record rather than a theoretical one.
- In America the name now reads as feminine to nearly everyone.
- Several spellings are in use and none of them settles the sex.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Courtney
Masculine · #3128 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Courtneys are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 20,000 people named Courtney are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Courtney?
- Courtney is the most-used spelling in US records — 38 of the 47 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Kourtney.
- How popular is the name Courtney in 2025?
- Courtney ranks #3128 among US boy names in 2025, with 38 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Courtney?
- About 1 in every 44,949 US boys born in 2025 was named Courtney — 38 in all.
- Will my child share the name Courtney with classmates?
- Courtney will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Courtney
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Juanpablo#3128 · Tavion#3128 · Hamilton#3128 · Javen#3128 · Hal#3128 · Dawud#3128 · Baxter#3128 · Tiberius#3128
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Courtney? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Courtney and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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