Courtnee
A feminine name derived from the French courtoisie meaning "courteous" or "well-mannered".
Name Census estimates that about 1,574 living Americans carry the first name Courtnee. It is a predominantly female name (99.4% of registrations). The average person named Courtnee today is around 32 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Courtnee births was 1990 (128 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Courtnee. 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
1.6K
~ 1 in 217,760 Americans
Peak year
1990
128 babies that year
Average age
32
years old
1979 SSA rank
#4,142
Tracked since 1974
Gender
Gender distribution for Courtnee
Out of the 1,636 babies given the name Courtnee since 1880, 99.4% 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.
Courtnee as a male name
- Ranked #4,142 in 1979
- 9 male births in 1979
- Peak: 1979 (9 births)
Courtnee as a female name
- Ranked #12,426 in 2020
- 7 female births in 2020
- Peak: 1990 (128 births)
Popularity
Courtnee: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Courtnee from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 767 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
Courtnee 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 Courtnee during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Courtnees live
The SSA's state-level files cover 13 states and territories. Texas, California, Michigan recorded the most babies named Courtnee, while Virginia, Pennsylvania, Oregon recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 25 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Courtnee
The name Courtnee is a modern feminine variation of the English name Courtney, which itself derives from the French surname Courtenaie. This surname traces its origins to the Norman French place name Courtenay, a town located in the Loiret region of north-central France. The name Courtenay is believed to have emerged in the 11th century, during the early days of the Norman conquest of England.
The name Courtenay is thought to derive from the Latin word "curtis," meaning "court" or "courtyard," combined with the Germanic suffix "-nai," indicating an origin or location. Thus, the name Courtenay can be interpreted as "one from the court" or "one from the courtyard." This etymological connection suggests that the name may have initially been associated with individuals who lived or worked in or near the court of a nobleman or ruler.
While the name Courtenay has a long history, the variant spelling Courtnee is a more recent development, likely emerging in the 20th century as a feminine form of the name. One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Courtnee was Courtnee Draper, an American singer and actress born in 1943.
Notable historical figures with the name Courtney or its variants include Courtney Vance, an American actor born in 1960, known for his roles in films such as "The Hunt for Red October" and "Hamburger Hill." Another is Courtney Love, an American singer-songwriter and actress born in 1964, who rose to prominence as the frontwoman of the alternative rock band Hole.
In the literary world, Courtney Peppernell was an English poet and writer who lived in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. Her published works include "The Mind's Remediacie" and "The Feme Semee's Litanie."
Moving back in time, Courtney de Vere was an English nobleman who lived in the 12th century and served as Earl of Oxford. He played a significant role in the conflicts between King Stephen and the Empress Matilda during the Anarchy period in England.
Finally, one of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Courtney was Reginald de Courtenay, a French nobleman who lived in the 12th century and participated in the Third Crusade. He later became Lord of Courtenay and played a role in the politics of the region.
People
Courtnee + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Courtnee 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
Courtnee: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Courtnee?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,574 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Courtnee 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 217,760 US residents.
Is Courtnee a common name?
We classify Courtnee as "Rare". It ranks above 92.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,636 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Courtnee most popular?
The single biggest year for Courtnee was 1990, when 128 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Courtnee is about 32 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Courtnee a female name?
Yes, 99.4% of people registered as Courtnee 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.