Courtenay
A feminine name of Anglo-Norman French origins, possibly derived from the French place name.
Name Census estimates that about 1,278 living Americans carry the first name Courtenay. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 82.9% of registrations being female. The average person named Courtenay today is around 47 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Courtenay births was 1966 (78 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Courtenay. 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.
People living today
1.3K
~ 1 in 268,196 Americans
Peak year
1966
78 babies that year
Average age
47
years old
1993 SSA rank
#6,951
Tracked since 1915
Gender
Gender distribution for Courtenay
Courtenay leans heavily female at 82.9% of total registrations, but 246 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Courtenay as a male name
- Ranked #6,951 in 1993
- 7 male births in 1993
- Peak: 1980 (22 births)
Courtenay as a female name
- Ranked #17,072 in 2005
- 5 female births in 2005
- Peak: 1966 (67 births)
Popularity
Courtenay: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Courtenay from the 1910s through to the 2000s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 455 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1970s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Courtenay 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 Courtenay during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Courtenays live
The SSA's state-level files cover 11 states and territories. New York, California, Texas recorded the most babies named Courtenay, while Ohio, Louisiana, District of Columbia recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 12 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Courtenay
The name Courtenay has its origins in the French language and can be traced back to the Middle Ages. It is believed to have derived from the Old French word "cort," meaning "short" or "small," and the suffix "-enai," which denotes a place of origin. The name was likely coined to refer to someone who lived in or came from a small or petite place.
The name rose to prominence in the 11th century, when it was adopted by the noble Courtenay family, who held lands in the Île-de-France region of France. The Courtenay family played a significant role in the Crusades and the governance of the Latin Empire of Constantinople in the early 13th century.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Courtenay can be found in the chronicles of the Third Crusade, where it was used to refer to Renaud de Courtenay (c. 1150-1227), a French nobleman who became the second Latin Emperor of Constantinople in 1216.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Courtenay. One such figure was William Courtenay (c. 1342-1396), an English prelate who served as Archbishop of Canterbury and Lord Chancellor of England during the reign of King Richard II.
Another prominent bearer of the name was Edward Courtenay, 1st Earl of Devon (1527-1556), an English nobleman who was a close friend of King Edward VI and a potential heir to the English throne during the Tudor period.
In the realm of literature, Courtenay was the name of a character in the influential medieval romance "Le Roman de la Rose," written by Guillaume de Lorris and Jean de Meun in the 13th century.
Courtenay was also the first name of the British-American author Courtenay Politzer (1888-1968), known for her novels and short stories depicting the lives of the upper classes in early 20th century New York and Paris.
Additionally, the name Courtenay has been used by several notable artists, including the American painter Courtenay C. Pollock (1903-1998), known for her abstract expressionist works, and the British sculptor Courtenay Gregory (1898-1977), known for his monumental public art pieces.
People
Courtenay + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Courtenay 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
Courtenay: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Courtenay?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,278 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Courtenay 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 268,196 US residents.
Is Courtenay a common name?
We classify Courtenay as "Rare". It ranks above 91.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,435 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Courtenay most popular?
The single biggest year for Courtenay was 1966, when 78 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Courtenay is about 47 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Courtenay a female name?
Yes, 82.9% of people registered as Courtenay 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.
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.