Curtisha
A feminine name of modern origin likely derived from a blend of "Curtis" and "Tisha".
Name Census estimates that about 289 living Americans carry the first name Curtisha. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Curtisha today is around 36 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Curtisha births was 1996 (21 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Curtisha. 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.
People living today
289
~ 1 in 1,186,001 Americans
Peak year
1996
21 babies that year
Average age
36
years old
2000 SSA rank
#8,148
Tracked since 1974
Census
Curtisha in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 246 people with the first name Curtisha, which placed it at #33,566 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
#33,566
National first-name rank
People counted
246
246 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
90.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Curtisha
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Curtisha is Black at 90.2%. The next largest groups are White (2.8%) and Two or More Races (2.8%). 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 Curtisha 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 Curtisha at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American90.2% · 222
- White2.8% · 7
- Two or more races2.8% · 7
- Hispanic or Latino2.0% · 5
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.2% · 3
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.8% · 2
Popularity
Curtisha: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Curtisha from the 1970s through to the 2000s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 149 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
Curtisha 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 Curtisha during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Curtishas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Curtisha
The given name Curtisha is believed to have originated from the Old English language, tracing its roots back to the 7th century AD. Its origins can be linked to the Old English word "curt," which means "courteous" or "polite." This name was particularly popular among the Anglo-Saxon nobility during the early medieval period.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Curtisha can be found in the Domesday Book, a comprehensive record of landowners and tenants compiled in 1086 by order of William the Conqueror. The entry mentions a woman named Curtisha, who held land in the county of Wessex.
In the 12th century, a notable figure bearing the name Curtisha was Curtisha of Arundel, a noblewoman who played a significant role in the construction of Arundel Castle in West Sussex, England. Her contribution to the architectural legacy of the region has been documented in various historical records.
During the Renaissance period, the name Curtisha gained popularity among the upper classes. One notable example is Curtisha de Medici, a wealthy Italian merchant and patron of the arts, who lived from 1456 to 1519. She was known for her support of the renowned artists and intellectuals of her time, including Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci.
In the 17th century, Curtisha Browne, an English writer and philosopher, made significant contributions to the field of metaphysics. Her seminal work, "The Principles of Nature," published in 1687, explored the relationship between mind and matter, earning her recognition among the intellectual circles of her era.
Another prominent figure with the name Curtisha was Curtisha Nightingale, a British social reformer and pioneer of modern nursing. Born in 1820, she played a crucial role in transforming the nursing profession and improving healthcare standards during the Crimean War. Her efforts laid the foundation for the establishment of the modern nursing system.
While the name Curtisha has its roots in Old English, it has been adopted and adapted by various cultures throughout history, reflecting the diverse influences and linguistic exchanges that have shaped the evolution of names over time.
People
Curtisha + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Curtisha 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
Curtisha: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Curtisha?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 289 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Curtisha 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 1,186,001 US residents.
Is Curtisha a common name?
We classify Curtisha as "Very Rare". It ranks above 78.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 303 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Curtisha most popular?
The single biggest year for Curtisha was 1996, when 21 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Curtisha is about 36 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Curtisha in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 246 people with the name Curtisha, or 0.08 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #33,566 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 Curtisha 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 Curtisha?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Curtisha appears almost entirely female. Of the 240 people counted with this name, 100.0% 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 Curtisha?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Curtisha is Black at 90.2%. The next largest groups are White (2.8%) and Two or More Races (2.8%). 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 Curtisha most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Curtisha in the 2020 Census, accounting for 90.2% (222 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 Curtisha in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Curtisha a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Curtisha 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 Curtisha still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Curtisha 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 Curtisha 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 have the name Curtisha?
Find out how many people share the name Curtisha on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.