Courteney
A feminine name derived from the French surname Courtenay, meaning "courteous" or "polite".
Name Census estimates that about 1,087 living Americans carry the first name Courteney. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Courteney today is around 33 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Courteney births was 1995 (170 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Courteney. 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 Courteney with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
1.1K
~ 1 in 315,321 Americans
Peak year
1995
170 babies that year
Average age
33
years old
1980 SSA rank
#6,430
Tracked since 1968
Census
Courteney in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,072 people with the first name Courteney, which placed it at #11,797 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
#11,797
National first-name rank
People counted
1.1K
1,072 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
69.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Courteney
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Courteney is White at 69.7%. The next largest groups are Black (15.8%) and Two or More Races (6.7%). 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 Courteney 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 Courteney at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White69.7% · 747
- Black or African American15.8% · 169
- Two or more races6.7% · 72
- Hispanic or Latino4.8% · 51
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.6% · 17
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.5% · 16
Gender
Gender distribution for Courteney
Out of the 1,129 babies given the name Courteney since 1880, 99.6% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Courteney as a male name
- Ranked #6,430 in 1980
- 5 male births in 1980
- Peak: 1980 (5 births)
Courteney as a female name
- Ranked #10,984 in 2008
- 10 female births in 2008
- Peak: 1995 (170 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Courteney leans strongly female. 1,020 people counted with this name were female (94.6%), compared with 58 male bearers (5.4%).
Popularity
Courteney: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Courteney from the 1960s through to the 2000s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 575 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1990s peak, Courteney remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Courteney 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 Courteney during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Courteneys live
The SSA's state-level files cover 16 states and territories. California, New York, Florida recorded the most babies named Courteney, while Wisconsin, Virginia, Tennessee recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 20 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Courteney
The name Courteney is derived from the Old French word "corteis," meaning "courteous" or "well-bred." It was originally a surname that emerged in the 12th century in England, likely as a descriptive name for someone who exhibited courtly manners or was associated with a noble court.
The name gained popularity during the Middle Ages, particularly among the Norman nobility in England. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Courteney dates back to the 13th century, when it was used by members of the prominent Courtenay family, who held significant power and influence in medieval England and France.
In the 14th century, the name Courteney appeared in historical records related to the Wars of the Roses, a series of civil wars fought between the Houses of Lancaster and York for the English throne. Sir Hugh Courtenay, who lived from around 1340 to 1425, was a prominent supporter of the House of Lancaster and served as the Earl of Devon.
During the Renaissance period, the name Courteney was associated with several notable figures in literature and the arts. One such individual was William Courtenay (1472-1519), an English poet and courtier who served as the secretary to King Henry VIII.
Another historical figure who bore the name Courteney was Edward Courtenay (1527-1556), an English nobleman and claimant to the English throne during the reign of Queen Mary I. He was briefly considered as a potential husband for the Queen but was ultimately imprisoned in the Tower of London.
In the 17th century, the name Courteney gained prominence in the American colonies. One notable figure was William Courtenay (1628-1702), an English settler who became a prominent landowner and politician in the colony of Virginia.
Throughout history, several other individuals with the name Courteney have made significant contributions in various fields, such as Sir William Courtenay (1807-1888), a British politician and diplomat, and Courtenay Terrett (1919-2010), an American lawyer and civil rights activist.
The name Courteney has endured over the centuries, retaining its association with nobility, courtliness, and sophistication. While its popularity has fluctuated, it remains a distinctive and historic name with a rich cultural heritage.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Courteney
People
Courteney + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Courteney 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
Courteney: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Courteney?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,087 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Courteney 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 315,321 US residents.
Is Courteney a common name?
We classify Courteney as "Rare". It ranks above 90.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,129 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Courteney most popular?
The single biggest year for Courteney was 1995, when 170 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Courteney is about 33 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Courteney in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,072 people with the name Courteney, or 0.35 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #11,797 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 Courteney 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 Courteney?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Courteney leans strongly female. 1,020 people counted with this name were female (94.6%), compared with 58 male bearers (5.4%). 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 Courteney?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Courteney is White at 69.7%. The next largest groups are Black (15.8%) and Two or More Races (6.7%). 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 Courteney most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Courteney in the 2020 Census, accounting for 69.7% (747 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 Courteney in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Courteney a female name?
Yes, 99.6% of people registered as Courteney 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 Courteney still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Courteney 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 Courteney 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 have Courteney as a first name?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.