# Courtenay (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/courtenay/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. US counts from the Social Security Administration; England and Wales counts from the Office for National Statistics; meaning and etymology from Wiktionary. Data updated 2026-11-11.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Usually given to | boys and girls |
| Origin | not recorded |
| Meaning | “short” |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |
| US babies named this | 1,435 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 246 / 1,189 (83% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 94, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

From Latin Curtenus, from curtus (“short”), via Norman.

## Popularity

The last 15 years of each series. A year is missing when too few babies were given the name for the agency to publish it: five in the US, three in England and Wales.

### United States, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1988 | 28 | 3,411 |
| 1989 | 39 | 2,822 |
| 1990 | 35 | 3,173 |
| 1991 | 34 | 3,228 |
| 1992 | 23 | 4,405 |
| 1993 | 15 | 6,017 |
| 1994 | 17 | 5,494 |
| 1995 | 22 | 4,558 |
| 1996 | 14 | 6,472 |
| 1997 | 14 | 6,562 |
| 1998 | 14 | 6,789 |
| 1999 | 6 | 13,044 |
| 2002 | 13 | 7,928 |
| 2003 | 6 | 14,264 |
| 2005 | 5 | 17,075 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1975 | 8 | 4,019 |
| 1976 | 7 | 4,531 |
| 1977 | 13 | 3,070 |
| 1978 | 16 | 2,691 |
| 1979 | 16 | 2,799 |
| 1980 | 22 | 2,293 |
| 1981 | 11 | 3,650 |
| 1982 | 10 | 4,010 |
| 1983 | 9 | 4,201 |
| 1984 | 8 | 4,640 |
| 1985 | 5 | 6,728 |
| 1986 | 7 | 5,444 |
| 1987 | 6 | 6,258 |
| 1988 | 8 | 5,287 |
| 1993 | 7 | 6,954 |

### England and Wales, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1996 | 15 | 1,222 |
| 1997 | 14 | 1,287 |
| 1998 | 19 | 1,076 |
| 1999 | 12 | 1,473 |
| 2000 | 10 | 1,688 |
| 2002 | 6 | 2,540 |
| 2004 | 3 | 4,598 |
| 2005 | 3 | 4,798 |
| 2006 | 4 | 4,157 |
| 2007 | 3 | 5,201 |

### England and Wales, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1997 | 5 | 2,022 |

## People named Courtenay

- Courtenay Taylor, actress
- John Edward Courtenay Bodley, British writer (1853–1925)
- Courtenay Foote, British actor
- R. V. C. Bodley, British Army officer (1892-1970)

## How to read these numbers

A count is babies registered with that name in that year, not people alive now, so a name common a century ago can have a large total and few recent births.