Courtney
Courtney was the 2335th most popular name for girls in 2025, given to 78 babies. Its best year was 1990, when it ranked 17th with 15,380 babies. Over the last ten years it has moved down 1,581 places. More babies were named Courtney in the 1990s than in any other decade.
Meaning from Courtenay (Latin curtus 'short') · French, Latin
Say it KORT-nee /ˈkɔɹtni/
- Rank in 2025
- #2,335 girls, down 943 places since 2020
- Babies in 2025
- 78girls
- Girls and boys
- 70% girls, 30% boys2021–2025
- Peak year
- 199015,380 babies
- Total since 1880
- 281,432babies recorded
What does the name Courtney mean?
Courtney is a variant of Courtenay, an aristocratic Norman surname from places in Normandy, derived, as Wiktionary notes, from Latin Curtenus, a personal name from curtus 'short'. A popular explanation as French court nez 'short nose' is a folk etymology. It was a boys' name first and became very popular for girls in the 1980s and 1990s.
Curtēnus (Latin, “personal name”)curtus (Latin, “short”)
How sure is this? Probable.
Other explanations you may read: French court nez 'short nose'.
Related names: Courtenay, Kortney, Cortney.
See also: French names, names from places.
Sources for this meaning
- Wiktionary, entry 'Courtney', Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0; facts restated, no text reused)
- US Social Security Administration, national baby-name data 1880-2025 (our computation), SSA (public domain)
Nicknames for Courtney
The usual nicknames for Courtney are Court.
| Nickname | Kind | Rank 2025 | Girls, 5 years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Court | Modern | — | — |
Nicknames reviewed by our editors; counts are girls given the nickname as their legal first name. Nobody records how many Courtneys go by each one.
Courtney popularity since 1880
| Year | Rank (girls) | Rank (boys) | Babies (girls) | Babies (boys) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #2,335 | #3,141 | 78 | 38 |
| 2020 | #1,392 | #2,214 | 157 | 62 |
| 2010 | #354 | #1,350 | 900 | 126 |
| 2000 | #59 | #860 | 5,239 | 185 |
| 1990 | #17 | #357 | 15,380 | 675 |
| 1980 | #48 | #256 | 5,618 | 860 |
| 1970 | #334 | #560 | 783 | 209 |
| 1960 | #1,394 | #723 | 62 | 116 |
| 1950 | #1,502 | #854 | 38 | 64 |
| 1940 | #2,048 | #1,110 | 16 | 35 |
| 1930 | #2,333 | #1,136 | 14 | 38 |
| 1920 | #1,829 | #991 | 22 | 48 |
| 1910 | #1,807 | #993 | 8 | 11 |
| 1900 | #1,246 | #854 | 10 | 10 |
| 1890 | #1,242 | — | 6 | — |
| 1880 | — | — | — | — |
How popular is Courtney, counting every spelling?
Courtney is the most common spelling of a name family that ranked #1,652 for girls in 2025 once every spelling is counted together, compared with #2,335 for Courtney on its own. Together these spellings went to 109 girls in 2025.
| Spelling | Babies 2025 | Official rank | Babies 2021–2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Courtney | 78 | #2,335 | 526 |
| Kourtney | 31 | #4,502 | 240 |
Spellings count together when they sound the same in American English and are used for the same sex; nicknames and forms that sound different (such as Theo and Theodore) are kept apart. How we group spellings.
How many kids will share the name Courtney?
78 of the 3,606,400 babies born in the US in 2025 were named Courtney (0.02 per 1,000 births). For a girl named Courtney born in 2025, the chance that another child with the same name is in a class of 20 children the same age is under 1 in 50. If every grade liked the name as much as the 2025 babies do, only about one elementary school in 108 (of 430 pupils) would have a child named Courtney.
Shares of all registered births (NCHS); classes assumed to be children born the same year. How we estimate this.
How old are people named Courtney?
About 250,800 people born in the US named Courtney are alive today, with a median age of 35; half are between 30 and 41. That makes Courtney mostly worn by adults in their thirties to fifties.
Babies given the name each year (SSA) times the share of that birth year still alive (SSA life tables). Counts people born in the US only. Method.
Courtney by state
How common Courtney was among girls born in each state in 2021–2025. It is notably more common than nationally in Virginia (1.9×). In 34 states fewer than five girls a year got the name, too few for SSA to publish, so those states show as zero.
Names with a similar history
These names rose and fell in step with Courtney: their share of US girls followed the most similar curve since 1880. If you like Courtney, they share its era and feel.
Questions about the name Courtney
What does Courtney mean?
Courtney means “from Courtenay (Latin curtus 'short')” (French, Latin origin). Certainty: probable.
How popular is the name Courtney?
Courtney was the 2335th most popular name for girls in 2025, given to 78 babies. Its best year was 1990, when it ranked 17th with 15,380 babies. Over the last ten years it has moved down 1,581 places. More babies were named Courtney in the 1990s than in any other decade.
Is Courtney a boy or girl name?
In 2021–2025, 70% girls, 30% boys given the name Courtney in the US.
Where is Courtney most popular?
In 2021–2025, Courtney was most common in Missouri (0.13 per 1,000 girls), followed by Virginia and Pennsylvania.