Kurtiss
Anglicized form of Germanic royal name Kurt, of uncertain meaning.
Name Census estimates that about 216 living Americans carry the first name Kurtiss. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Kurtiss today is around 55 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kurtiss births was 1968 (12 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kurtiss. 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 Kurtiss with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
216
~ 1 in 1,586,826 Americans
Peak year
1968
12 babies that year
Average age
55
years old
1991 SSA rank
#6,263
Tracked since 1952
Census
Kurtiss in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 229 people with the first name Kurtiss, which placed it at #35,223 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
#35,223
National first-name rank
People counted
229
229 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
83.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kurtiss
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kurtiss is White at 83.4%. The next largest groups are Black (11.8%) and Two or More Races (3.1%). 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 Kurtiss 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 Kurtiss at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White83.4% · 191
- Black or African American11.8% · 27
- Two or more races3.1% · 7
- Hispanic or Latino1.3% · 3
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.4% · 1
Popularity
Kurtiss: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kurtiss from the 1950s through to the 1990s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 81 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1960s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Kurtiss 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 Kurtiss 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 Kurtiss
The given name Kurtiss is a variant spelling of the name Curtis, which has its origins in the Old French word "courtois" meaning "courteous" or "polite." This name emerged during the Middle Ages in France and later spread to other parts of Europe.
The name Curtis can be traced back to the Latin word "curtis," which referred to a courtyard or a nobleman's estate. It is believed that the name initially denoted someone who lived or worked on such an estate or courtyard. Over time, the name evolved to signify a person of courtly or noble manners.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Curtis can be found in the Domesday Book, a great survey of England commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. The name appeared in various spellings, such as "Curteis" and "Curteys," indicating its French origins.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Kurtiss or its variant spellings. One of the earliest recorded was Sir Curtis de Beauvays, a Norman knight who accompanied William the Conqueror during the Norman Conquest of England in 1066.
Another prominent figure was Curtis Aurelius Lemay (1906-1990), an American Air Force general who played a crucial role in the strategic bombing campaigns during World War II. He later served as the fifth Vice Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force.
In the realm of literature, Curtis Wilkie (born 1944) is an American author and journalist best known for his non-fiction work "The Fall of the House of Zeus," which documented the downfall of U.S. Senator Trent Lott.
The name Kurtiss has also been associated with aviation history. Curtis Pitts (1915-2005) was an American aeronautical engineer and designer, best known for creating the iconic Pitts Special aerobatic biplane.
Additionally, Curtis LeMay (1906-1990), the Air Force general mentioned earlier, had a son named Curtis LeMay Jr. (1941-1984), who followed in his father's footsteps and served as a brigadier general in the United States Air Force.
While the name Kurtiss may not be as common as some other names, it carries a rich historical legacy, reflecting courtly manners and noble associations from its medieval French origins.
People
Kurtiss + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kurtiss 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
Kurtiss: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kurtiss?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 216 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kurtiss 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 1,586,826 US residents.
Is Kurtiss a common name?
We classify Kurtiss as "Very Rare". It ranks above 75.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 245 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kurtiss most popular?
The single biggest year for Kurtiss was 1968, when 12 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kurtiss is about 55 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kurtiss in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 229 people with the name Kurtiss, or 0.08 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #35,223 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 Kurtiss 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 Kurtiss?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kurtiss appears almost entirely male. Of the 233 people counted with this name, 99.1% 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 Kurtiss?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kurtiss is White at 83.4%. The next largest groups are Black (11.8%) and Two or More Races (3.1%). 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 Kurtiss most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Kurtiss in the 2020 Census, accounting for 83.4% (191 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 Kurtiss in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kurtiss a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Kurtiss 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 Kurtiss still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kurtiss 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 Kurtiss 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 Americans are named Kurtiss?
Want to know how many Americans are named Kurtiss? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.