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Cortland

#3,967 in 2025Boys' name

Meaning and linguistic origin unconfirmed

Cortland has been given to 2,194 babies in the U.S. since 1913. In 2025 it ranked #3,967 of 13,926 boys’ names in use. Its peak year was 2011, with 62 recorded.

Babies named Cortland, 2025

1 in 123,000

Cortland over time, 1880–2025

BoysGirls
02040608018801900192019401960198020002020

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Cortland: meaning, origin, and history

Meaning and linguistic origin unconfirmed

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Cortland means

Cortland is a given name.

The naming story behind Cortland

Wikidata records Cortland as a male given name. The entity identifier is Q60594052, and the classification was checked on 2026-10-20. The spelling matches a source label or alias exactly, without removing accents or linking it to a name merely because the letters look similar.

A database classification is different from an etymological explanation, so those questions remain open in the short meaning.

A modern root explanation needs an additional naming or linguistic reference.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 2,145 boys were recorded with the name Cortland between 1913 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 62 in 2011; its best national rank was #1,554 in 1991.

Over 5 years its rank fell, from #3,833 in 2020 to #3,967 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank fell, from #2,650 in 2015 to #3,967 in 2025.

In the United States, 49 girls were recorded with the name Cortland between 1994 and 2024. Its highest annual count was 7 in 1994; its best national rank was #10,813 in 1994.

Sources & methodologyReferences, data & attribution

Meaning, origin, and language notes draw on the references below.

American popularity figures use published Social Security Administration records for this exact spelling. Counts below five for a name, sex, and year are omitted.

How common is Cortland?

Everything below is computed from the 2025 data — the most recent year available.

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 123,000
27 of 3,315,165 births
Among boys only
1 in 63,300
<0.01% of boys
Rank, 2025
#3,967
of 13,926 boys’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
85,108 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Cortland sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Liam (20,818)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2025 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%
Class of 30Under 1%
Grade of 100Under 1%
School of 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 85,108 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Cortland. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Cortlands were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Cortland was born before 1996 — so the typical Cortland is around 29 today.

Median birth year
1996
About 29 years old
Biggest decade
1990s
23.0% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
40.0%
Spread across generations
Recorded since 1950
1,844
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

1990s — 23.0% of all recorded uses (493).

Is Cortland rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago
+1,308
Places climbed
Rank vs 5 years ago
−134
Places dropped
Rank vs 10 years ago
−1,317
Places dropped
Births vs 10 years ago
0.59×
Fewer babies than then
Share of its own peak
43.5%
Peak was 2011 (62)
Years since peak
14
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Volatile
25.9% average annual change
Best rank ever
#1,554
1991

Spellings of Cortland

Cortland is not the most common spelling — Courtland is, with 41.5% against Cortland's 23.1%.

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Where Cortland is used

Across 1910–2025, Cortland was most concentrated in Tennessee — about 1 in 100,000 boys, against 1 in 443,946 across all states with data. It was least common in Utah (1 in —).

01 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Tennessee1 in 100,000
  2. 2Texas1 in 100,000
  3. 3California1 in —
  4. 4Georgia1 in —
  5. 5Illinois1 in —
  6. 6Indiana1 in —
  7. 7Louisiana1 in —
  8. 8New York1 in —

Shading is the share of that state's recorded boys given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings. Cortland has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Notable people named Cortland

People whose public names include Cortland, backed by Wikidata given-name records and ordered by linked Wikimedia pages. The name may be a middle name.

People data from Wikidata (CC0). Fame is measured, not judged — the order reflects how widely each person is documented, not the U.S. birth records popularity this page is otherwise about.

Cortland by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#3,967
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Down 134
Best rank ever
#1,554
1991
Peak year
2011
62 that year
First recorded
1913
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
2,145
Count in 2025
27

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#10,813
1994
Peak year
1994
7 that year
First recorded
1994
Last recorded
2024
All-time count
49
Count in 2025
Under 5

Names similar to Cortland

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

CornelioCorbettCorderoCortneyCordariusCorbenCopelandCorbynCorrieCorbanCordaleCormacCorwinCordellHollandCornellOaklandLeelandCorleoneCorvinCorinthianKirklandCourtlandCorrado

Names with a curve like Cortland

Not spelling — timing. These names rose, peaked and faded in the same years as Cortland, so they read as being from the same moment even when they look nothing alike.

AlstonRayvonGabinoJansenRobinsonChasenBaltazarJobStefanoAbranJohannesDmitri

Sibling names for Cortland

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

Explore around Cortland

Top names of 2011, Cortland's peak yearThe 2010s in fullOther names that peaked in 1991Boys' names starting with C