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Home › Baby Names Directory › Courtney

Courtney

♀ Girl

Pronounced KAWRT-nee /ˈkɔɹt.ni/Medium

Meaning: ShortMedium

In 30 seconds: Courtney began as an English name with the sense of 'short' and has long served as both a surname and a given name for girls and boys.
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Origin MediumEnglish
MeaningShort
U.S. rank (2025)#2335 ↘ Falling
2025 U.S. births78 girls (0.00% of U.S. girls)
Peak year1990
Total births (all-time)≈ 258,397

Popularity in the U.S. · SSA data

peak 199018812025

U.S. births per year (Social Security Administration, 1880–present). Pink marker = peak year.

SSA data updated May 2026. How we source & verify this data.

History & Origin

Recorded with the meaning 'short', the name comes from English usage where it functioned first as a family name before moving to first-name use. Its many spellings, from Cortney to Kourtney, show how freely it has been reshaped over the years. That flexibility helped it spread across both genders.

The two-syllable name has a crisp, friendly ring that carried it through several decades of popularity. Notable bearers include actor Courtney B. Vance and Hole frontwoman Courtney Love, showing its reach across film and rock music.

Did you know? Courtney likely reached first-name use through a surname or place-name route, which gives it that modern borrowed-from-history feel.
Overall data confidence 78%
Behind the Name - Courtney — etymology, usage, pronunciation, and related formsU.S. Social Security Administration — 2024 popularity rank and count supplied in the batch input CSV

Variations

CortneyCourteneyKortneyKourtney

Nicknames

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Famous Bearers

  • ★Courtney B. Vance (b. 1960)
    American actor; Tony Award winner and two-time Primetime Emmy winner, known for 'The People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story'.
  • ★Courtney Love (b. 1964)
    American singer, songwriter and actress; frontwoman of the rock band Hole.

If you like Courtney…

Whitney— Shares the surname-turned-given-name path and '-ney' ending
Brittany— A comparable two-syllable name from the same era and feel
Chesney— shares the -ey ending
Hayley— another English name
Ripley— shares Courtney's English roots

Explore names like Courtney

By themeenglishsurname-style

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Frequently Asked

What does the name Courtney mean?

Courtney is usually explained as meaning 'short' and is most often linked with English tradition.

How do you pronounce Courtney?

It's commonly said KAWRT-nee /ˈkɔɹt.ni/.

Is Courtney a boy or girl name?

In this batch and in recent U.S. usage data, Courtney is used as a girl name.

How popular is Courtney?

In 2024, Courtney ranked #1978 in the U.S. for girls, with 99 births recorded.

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