Coutney
Feminine name from the French word "courtoise", meaning courtly or courteous.
Name Census estimates that about 73 living Americans carry the first name Coutney. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Coutney today is around 39 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Coutney births was 1988 (14 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Coutney. 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 Coutney. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
73
~ 1 in 4,695,265 Americans
Peak year
1988
14 babies that year
Average age
39
years old
2000 SSA rank
#15,575
Tracked since 1979
Popularity
Coutney: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Coutney from the 1970s through to the 2000s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 54 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Coutney 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 Coutney 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 Coutney
The name Courtney is of French origin, derived from the territorial name "Courtney" or "Courtenay." It is believed to have originated from the Old French words "curt" or "cort," meaning "short," and "nai," meaning "native." This suggests that the name may have initially referred to a person of short stature who was a native of a particular region.
The earliest recorded use of the name Courtney dates back to the 11th century, when it was first used as a surname for members of the noble Courtenay family in France. The Courtenay family played a significant role in the Crusades and later established themselves in England after the Norman Conquest in 1066.
One of the most notable historical figures with the name Courtney was William Courtney, Archbishop of Canterbury from 1381 to 1396. He was a prominent figure in the English church and served as a diplomat and advisor to King Richard II.
Another notable Courtney was John Courtney, born in 1280, who became the Bishop of Bath and Wells in the early 14th century. He was a renowned scholar and author of several theological works.
In the 16th century, Sir William Courtney (1553-1630) was an English politician and member of Parliament who played a significant role in the English Civil War.
Moving forward in history, Courtney Thorne-Smith (born 1957) is an American actress known for her roles in popular television shows like "Melrose Place" and "According to Jim."
Courtney Love (born 1964) is a famous American singer, songwriter, and actress, best known as the lead vocalist of the rock band Hole and for her marriage to Kurt Cobain, the late frontman of Nirvana.
While the name Courtney was traditionally more common as a surname, it gained popularity as a given name for both males and females in the 20th century, particularly in English-speaking countries like the United States and the United Kingdom.
People
Coutney + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Coutney 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
Coutney: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Coutney?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 73 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Coutney 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 4,695,265 US residents.
Is Coutney a common name?
We classify Coutney as "Very Rare". It ranks above 60% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 77 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Coutney most popular?
The single biggest year for Coutney was 1988, when 14 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Coutney is about 39 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Coutney a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Coutney 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.