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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Courtenay with official rankings and popularity over time.
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
Census
Courtenay in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,453 people with the first name Courtenay, which placed it at #9,518 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#9,518
National first-name rank
People counted
1.5K
1,453 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
75.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Courtenay
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Courtenay is White at 75.5%. The next largest groups are Black (17.5%) and Two or More Races (4.6%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Courtenay described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Courtenay at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White75.5% · 1,097
- Black or African American17.5% · 255
- Two or more races4.6% · 67
- Hispanic or Latino1.8% · 26
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.3% · 5
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 3
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)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Courtenay leans strongly female. 1,193 people counted with this name were female (81.7%), compared with 268 male bearers (18.3%).
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.
How common was Courtenay in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,453 people with the name Courtenay, or 0.48 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #9,518 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Courtenay in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Courtenay?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Courtenay leans strongly female. 1,193 people counted with this name were female (81.7%), compared with 268 male bearers (18.3%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Courtenay?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Courtenay is White at 75.5%. The next largest groups are Black (17.5%) and Two or More Races (4.6%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Courtenay most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Courtenay in the 2020 Census, accounting for 75.5% (1,097 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
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 Courtenay in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
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.
Is Courtenay still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Courtenay 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 Courtenay 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.
How many people are called Courtenay?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.