Find out how popular the last name Cortright is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Cortright.

Cortright, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Cortright surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Cortright in America

Cortright is the 16120th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Cortright surname appeared 1,796 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 people would have the surname Cortright.

We can also compare 2010 data for Cortright to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Cortright

The surname CORTRIGHT has its origins in the Netherlands, dating back to the 16th century. It is derived from the Dutch words "kort" meaning "short" and "recht" meaning "straight" or "right," likely referring to a physical characteristic or a geographic location.

One of the earliest documented references to the name can be found in the records of the Dutch Reformed Church in Amsterdam, where a certain Pieter Cortright was mentioned in 1587. This suggests that the name was already well-established in the Netherlands by that time.

As the Dutch began to establish colonies in the New World, particularly in what is now New York, the name CORTRIGHT was carried over to the American continent. In fact, one of the first recorded instances of the name in America is that of Gerrit Cortright, who arrived in New Amsterdam (present-day New York City) in 1638.

Throughout the 17th and 18th centuries, the name CORTRIGHT appeared in various historical records and documents in both the Netherlands and the American colonies. Notable individuals bearing this surname include:

1. Jacobus Cortright (1628-1697), a Dutch settler in New Amsterdam who became a prominent landowner and merchant.
2. Johannes Cortright (1712-1787), a Dutch-American soldier who fought in the French and Indian War.
3. Teunis Cortright (1745-1823), an American Revolutionary War soldier and early settler in upstate New York.
4. Jeremiah Cortright (1783-1862), a member of the New York State Assembly and a prominent figure in the anti-rent movement.
5. Henry Cortright (1808-1892), an American Civil War veteran and a leader in the Grand Army of the Republic, a fraternal organization for Union veterans.

While the name CORTRIGHT is not as common today as it once was, it remains a part of the rich tapestry of surnames that reflect the diverse cultural heritage of the United States and the Netherlands.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Cortright

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Cortright.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Cortright was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Cortright has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Cortright was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Cortright, please contact us.

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