Kurtis
A masculine name of Norman French origin meaning "courteous, polite".
Name Census estimates that about 16,845 living Americans carry the first name Kurtis. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Kurtis today is around 41 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kurtis births was 1989 (624 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kurtis. 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 Kurtis with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
17K
~ 1 in 20,348 Americans
Peak year
1989
624 babies that year
Average age
41
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,843
Tracked since 1934
Census
Kurtis in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 14,315 people with the first name Kurtis, which placed it at #1,949 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
#1,949
National first-name rank
People counted
14K
14,315 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
4.7
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
82.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kurtis
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kurtis is White at 82.4%. The next largest groups are Black (7.3%) and Two or More Races (3.8%). 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 Kurtis 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 Kurtis at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White82.4% · 11,796
- Black or African American7.3% · 1,052
- Two or more races3.8% · 545
- Hispanic or Latino3.0% · 433
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.5% · 359
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 130
Gender
Gender distribution for Kurtis
Out of the 18,114 babies given the name Kurtis since 1880, 99.9% were registered as male. The name sits firmly on the male side of the spectrum, with only a handful of female registrations across the entire dataset.
Kurtis as a male name
- Ranked #3,843 in 2024
- 29 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1989 (624 births)
Kurtis as a female name
- Ranked #10,184 in 1986
- 6 female births in 1986
- Peak: 1979 (7 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kurtis appears almost entirely male. Of the 14,318 people counted with this name, 99.8% were male and only a very small share were female.
Popularity
Kurtis: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kurtis from the 1930s through to the 2020s, spanning 10 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 4,873 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
Kurtis 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 Kurtis during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kurtis' live
The SSA's state-level files cover 47 states and territories. California, Michigan, Ohio recorded the most babies named Kurtis, while Vermont, Maine, Alaska recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 305 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Kurtis
The name Kurtis has its origins in the Germanic languages, derived from the word "kurti" which means "courteous" or "polite." It gained popularity during the Middle Ages in various regions of Europe, particularly in Germany, France, and the Low Countries.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Kurtis can be found in the Carolingian dynasty of the 8th century, where it was used as a first name by several members of the ruling family. Kurtis the Bold, a nobleman who lived around 820 AD, is one of the notable figures from this period to bear the name.
During the High Middle Ages, the name Kurtis was widely used among the nobility and aristocracy across Europe. It was particularly popular in the Holy Roman Empire, where it was associated with chivalry and courtly manners. Kurtis von Leiningen, a 12th-century German nobleman and crusader, is a well-known historical figure who carried this name.
As the name spread across Europe, it took on various spellings and forms, such as Curtis, Curtius, and Curteys. In England, the name Curtis gained popularity during the Norman Conquest, and it is believed to have been introduced by Norman nobles who accompanied William the Conqueror in 1066.
One of the most famous bearers of the name Kurtis in history was Curtius Rufus, a Roman historian who lived in the 1st century AD. His work, "Historiae Alexandri Magni," chronicled the life and campaigns of Alexander the Great and is considered a valuable primary source for studying that period.
Another notable figure was Kurtis of Saxony, a 10th-century German nobleman and military leader who played a significant role in the expansion of the Holy Roman Empire. He was also known for his efforts in promoting Christianity in the region.
In the field of literature, Kurtis Siodmak, a German-American novelist and screenwriter (1902-2000), is remembered for his contributions to the film noir genre, having written screenplays for classics such as "The Killers" and "Criss Cross."
Kurtis Masterson, an American actor and singer (1927-1999), is also a noteworthy bearer of the name. He had a successful career in Hollywood, appearing in numerous films and television shows, and was known for his distinctive baritone voice.
People
Kurtis + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kurtis as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with K
Other first names starting with K with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Kurtis: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kurtis?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 16,845 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kurtis 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 20,348 US residents.
Is Kurtis a common name?
We classify Kurtis as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 18,114 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kurtis most popular?
The single biggest year for Kurtis was 1989, when 624 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kurtis is about 41 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kurtis in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 14,315 people with the name Kurtis, or 4.74 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #1,949 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 Kurtis 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 Kurtis?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kurtis appears almost entirely male. Of the 14,318 people counted with this name, 99.8% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Kurtis?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kurtis is White at 82.4%. The next largest groups are Black (7.3%) and Two or More Races (3.8%). 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 Kurtis most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Kurtis in the 2020 Census, accounting for 82.4% (11,796 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 Kurtis in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kurtis a male name?
Yes, 99.9% of people registered as Kurtis in the SSA data are male. 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 Kurtis still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kurtis 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 Kurtis 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 named Kurtis?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.