Courtnie
A feminine name of English origin meaning "diminutive form of courteous".
Name Census estimates that about 2,026 living Americans carry the first name Courtnie. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Courtnie today is around 34 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Courtnie births was 1994 (139 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Courtnie. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Courtnie with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
2.0K
~ 1 in 169,178 Americans
Peak year
1994
139 babies that year
Average age
34
years old
2017 SSA rank
#16,418
Tracked since 1973
Census
Courtnie in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,826 people with the first name Courtnie, which placed it at #8,062 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#8,062
National first-name rank
People counted
1.8K
1,826 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.6
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
72.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Courtnie
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Courtnie is White at 72.3%. The next largest groups are Black (16.8%) and Two or More Races (5.4%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Courtnie described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Courtnie at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White72.3% · 1,320
- Black or African American16.8% · 306
- Two or more races5.4% · 99
- Hispanic or Latino3.3% · 60
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.3% · 24
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 17
Popularity
Courtnie: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Courtnie from the 1970s through to the 2010s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 993 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Courtnie by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Courtnie during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Courtnies live
The SSA's state-level files cover 17 states and territories. Texas, California, Ohio recorded the most babies named Courtnie, while New Jersey, Oklahoma, Missouri recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 39 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Courtnie
The name Courtnie is a modern English variation of the French name Courtney, which itself is derived from the Old French word "cortenie," meaning "courteous" or "well-bred." The name's origins can be traced back to the 12th century, when it first emerged as a surname for families living in the region of Courtenay, a town located in the northern part of France.
The earliest recorded use of the name Courtney as a given name dates back to the 13th century, when it was primarily used for males. One of the earliest known bearers of the name was Courtney of Arwenack, a 14th-century English nobleman and military commander who served under King Edward III during the Hundred Years' War.
In the 15th century, the name gained popularity among the English aristocracy, with notable figures such as Courtney of Penwith, a powerful landowner and member of the Cornish gentry, and Courtney of Devon, a prominent family with ties to the English royal court.
As the name spread throughout Europe, it also found its way into various literary works and historical records. For instance, the character of Courtney Woodhouse appears in the 16th-century play "The Tragedy of Dido, Queen of Carthage" by Christopher Marlowe.
Over the centuries, several notable individuals have borne the name Courtnie or its variations. These include:
1. Courtney of Arwenack (c. 1320 - c. 1393), an English nobleman and military commander during the Hundred Years' War.
2. Courtney of Penwith (c. 1440 - c. 1510), a prominent landowner and member of the Cornish gentry.
3. Courtney of Devon (active in the 15th century), a powerful English family with ties to the royal court.
4. Courtney Vance (born 1960), an American actor known for his roles in films such as "The Hunt for Red October" and "The Preacher's Wife."
5. Courtney Love (born 1964), an American singer-songwriter and the widow of Kurt Cobain, the lead singer of the band Nirvana.
The name Courtnie, with its distinct spelling variation, emerged in more recent times as an English adaptation of the traditional Courtney. While its origins can be traced back to the medieval period, the name's popularity has endured throughout the centuries, reflecting its association with nobility, courtesy, and refinement.
People
Courtnie + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Courtnie as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with C
Other first names starting with C with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Courtnie: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Courtnie?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,026 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Courtnie going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 169,178 US residents.
Is Courtnie a common name?
We classify Courtnie as "Rare". It ranks above 93.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,114 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Courtnie most popular?
The single biggest year for Courtnie was 1994, when 139 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Courtnie is about 34 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Courtnie in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,826 people with the name Courtnie, or 0.60 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #8,062 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Courtnie in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Courtnie?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Courtnie appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,826 people counted with this name, 99.3% were female and only a very small share were male. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Courtnie?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Courtnie is White at 72.3%. The next largest groups are Black (16.8%) and Two or More Races (5.4%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Courtnie most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Courtnie in the 2020 Census, accounting for 72.3% (1,320 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Courtnie in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Courtnie a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Courtnie in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Courtnie still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Courtnie in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Courtnie can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people are called Courtnie?
See how many people share the name Courtnie on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.