Courtany
A feminine name of French origin meaning "from the court".
Name Census estimates that about 79 living Americans carry the first name Courtany. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Courtany today is around 32 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Courtany births was 1990 (14 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Courtany. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Courtany. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
79
~ 1 in 4,338,663 Americans
Peak year
1990
14 babies that year
Average age
32
years old
2002 SSA rank
#15,983
Tracked since 1989
Popularity
Courtany: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Courtany from the 1980s through to the 2000s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 70 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Courtany by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Courtany during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Courtany
The name Courtany is a variant spelling of the French name Courtney, which originated from the Norman French courtené or courteneie, meaning "little court." The name likely arose in the 11th century, during the Norman conquest of England, when many Norman nobles and their courtiers settled in England and brought their names with them.
The name Courtney was originally a place name, referring to various villages and manors in Normandy and other parts of northern France. It is thought to have derived from the Old French words cort, meaning "court" or "manor," and the diminutive suffix -ney or -nai, indicating a smaller or lesser version.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Courtney dates back to the Domesday Book of 1086, where it appears as the surname of several Norman landowners in various parts of England. This suggests that the name had already established itself as a common surname among the Norman nobility by the late 11th century.
Throughout the Middle Ages and into the Renaissance period, the name Courtney remained closely associated with the English aristocracy. Notable individuals bearing this name include Hugh de Courtenay (c. 1275-1349), an English nobleman and military commander who fought in the Wars of Scottish Independence, and Richard Courtenay (c. 1410-1477), Bishop of Norwich and a prominent figure in the Wars of the Roses.
In the 16th century, the name gained further prominence with Sir William Courtenay (c. 1495-1558), a member of the English Parliament and a supporter of the Protestant Reformation. During the same period, the variant spelling Courtany also began to appear, likely as a result of regional variations in pronunciation and spelling.
Other notable individuals with the name Courtany or its variants include:
1. Courtany de Knoville (c. 1220-1292), a French noblewoman and heiress.
2. Courtany de Vere (c. 1280-1334), an English nobleman and military commander during the Wars of Scottish Independence.
3. Courtany de Montfort (c. 1330-1388), a French knight and crusader.
4. Courtany de Chamberlain (c. 1450-1521), an English courtier and diplomat during the reigns of Henry VII and Henry VIII.
5. Courtany de Gramont (c. 1570-1638), a French nobleman and Marshal of France during the Thirty Years' War.
While the name Courtany has roots in the Norman French language and culture, it has since spread to other parts of the world and has been adapted and modified according to local linguistic traditions and preferences.
People
Courtany + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Courtany as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with C
Other first names starting with C with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Courtany: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Courtany?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 79 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Courtany going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 4,338,663 US residents.
Is Courtany a common name?
We classify Courtany as "Very Rare". It ranks above 61.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 82 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Courtany most popular?
The single biggest year for Courtany was 1990, when 14 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Courtany is about 32 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Courtany in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Courtany a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Courtany in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Courtany still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Courtany in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Courtany can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many people are called Courtany?
See how many people have the name Courtany on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.