Courtney

Where the name comes from

• Old French (Norman), from a Gallo-Roman personal name
  From Courtenay, a place in northern France. The place was named after a Gallo-Roman landowner called Curtenus. His name comes from Latin curtus, "short."
  Curtenus (from Latin curtus, "short") + the place-name suffix -acum
  Courtney started as a family name that told where a family came from. It pointed to Courtenay, near Sens in northern France, or to another place named the same way. English speakers later began using the family name as a first name. You will often see the meaning given as "short nose." That is popular folklore. The family-name dictionaries we checked do not support it.
• Irish (Gaelic)
  As an Irish family name, Courtney sometimes stands in for Ó Curnáin, "descendant of Curnán." Curnán is an Old Irish personal name.
  Ó Curnáin (Curnán, an ancient Irish personal name)
  This is a separate source for the family name Courtney, found mainly in Ireland. Some Irish families with the Gaelic name Ó Curnáin took Courtney as its English form. A 1923 Irish names reference calls Ó Curnáin a Kerry surname. This line is not where the first name comes from, but it matters for Irish American families named Courtney.

Courtney across traditions

• English and French nobility. The Courtenay family took its name from the lordship of Courtenay in France, about 1,000 years ago. One branch settled in England and later held the title Earl of Devon. The name's long tie to this noble family helps explain why it later felt classy as a first name.
• American naming. Courtney is a family name that became a first name. In the United States it was rare and used for both boys and girls. Then it boomed for girls. It was a top-100 girls' name in the 1980s and 1990s. In 1990 it was one of Louisiana's five most popular names for baby girls.

Who carried it

• Edward Courtenay, Earl of Devon (About 470 years ago): An English nobleman of the Courtenay family. Queen Mary I made him Earl of Devon after years as a prisoner in the Tower of London.
• Courteney Cox (Born 1964): American actress best known for the TV series Friends. She spells the name with an extra "e."
• Courtney Love (Born 1964): American rock musician and actress.

Forms in other languages

Courtenay, Courteney, Cortney, Kortney, Kourtney, Courtny

Courtney in letter-number systems

Hebrew, Greek and other traditions gave every letter a number, and read meaning into the totals. These are the counts, computed; the readings are inside the Innerverse.