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Courtenay

UnisexGirls' nameBoys' name

Short

Courtenay has been given to 1,435 babies in the U.S. since 1925. It was used fewer than 5 times in 2025, so it doesn't appear in the latest year's list — today it's a genuinely uncommon pick. Its peak year was 1966, with 67 recorded. It's used for both sexes: 83% girls, 17% boys all-time.

Babies named Courtenay, 2005

1 in 769,000

Courtenay over time, 1880–2025

GirlsBoys
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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Girls or boys — Courtenay over time

In 2005, Courtenay went to 100% girls and 0% boys.

19152005

A sex is only published in years it reached five applications, so a stretch at 0% or 100% means the other side stayed under that floor — not that it was never used.

Courtenay: meaning, origin, and history

Short

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Courtenay means

Courtenay means “short”, associated with curtus.

Dictionary etymologyReferences, data & attribution

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

Excerpt from Wiktionary: Courtenay (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Origin, language, and formation

Courtenay is used in English.

Courtenay comes through Latin Curtenus.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 1,189 girls were recorded with the name Courtenay between 1925 and 2005. Its highest annual count was 67 in 1966; its best national rank was #1,324 in 1966.

In the United States, 246 boys were recorded with the name Courtenay between 1915 and 1993. Its highest annual count was 22 in 1980; its best national rank was #2,292 in 1980.

How common is Courtenay?

Courtenay had fewer than 5 recorded uses in 2025, so these figures use 2005, the last year it was published.

Among all babies, 2005
1 in 769,000
5 of 3,844,258 births
Among girls only
1 in 369,000
<0.01% of girls
Rank, 2005
Unranked
Fewer than 5 uses
Coin-flip room size
532,928 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Courtenay sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Olivia (13,544)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2005 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 532,928 children born in 2005 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Courtenay. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Courtenays were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Courtenay was born before 1978 — so the typical Courtenay is around 47 today.

Median birth year
1978
About 47 years old
Biggest decade
1970s
30.2% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
41.3%
Spread across generations
Recorded since 1950
1,152
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

1970s — 30.2% of all recorded uses (359).

Is Courtenay 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
—
Not ranked then
Rank vs 5 years ago
New entry
Not ranked then
Rank vs 10 years ago
—
Not ranked then
Births vs 10 years ago
—
Not published both years
Share of its own peak
0%
Peak was 1966 (67)
Years since peak
59
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Shifting
24.5% average annual change
Best rank ever
#1,324
1966

Spellings of Courtenay

Courtenay is not the most common spelling — Courtney is, with 99.1% against Courtenay's 0.46%.

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 Courtenay is used

Across 1910–2025, Courtenay was most concentrated in District of Columbia — about 1 in 100,000 girls, against 1 in 606,274 across all states with data. It was least common in Virginia (1 in —).

01 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1District of Columbia1 in 100,000
  2. 2California1 in —
  3. 3Florida1 in —
  4. 4Georgia1 in —
  5. 5Illinois1 in —
  6. 6Louisiana1 in —
  7. 7Missouri1 in —
  8. 8New York1 in —

Shading is the share of that state's recorded girls 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. Courtenay has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Courtenay around the world

Where Courtenay ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

  • England & Wales
    1996–2007
    #5,201
    in 2007
  • Canada
    1991–2002
    #2,286
    in 2002
  • South Australia
    1982–2004
    #700
    in 2004

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, Statistics Canada and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). ONS data under Open Government Licence v3.0. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence. CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0.

Courtenay by the numbers

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

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#1,324
1966
Peak year
1966
67 that year
First recorded
1925
Last recorded
2005
All-time count
1,189
Count in 2025
Under 5

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#2,292
1980
Peak year
1980
22 that year
First recorded
1915
Last recorded
1993
All-time count
246
Count in 2025
Under 5

Names similar to Courtenay

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

CourtnayCourtlynnCourtlynCourteneyCourtneeCourtnieCourtlandCourtniBrittnayCourtnyCourtneiChardonnayCoumbaCountessCourtanyDanayShanayCourtenyLanayChardonayCournteyCourtneCoutneyCourney

Sibling names for Courtenay

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 Courtenay

Top names of 1966, Courtenay's peak yearThe 1960s in fullOther names that peaked in 1966Girls' names starting with C