| Frequency Comparisons | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | Rank | Frequency % | Per million people | |
| United States | ||||
| United States (Current snapshot) | 347 | 55376 | 0 | 1 |
| United States (1880 census) | 131 | 26036 | 0 | 3 |
| Change since 1880 | +216 | -29340 | +N/A | -2 |
| Other Countries | ||||
| Australia | 136 | 10853 | 0.001 | 8 |
| United Kingdom | 492 | 8955 | 0.001 | 11 |
| Top States for COURTENAY by Total | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| State | Total | Rank in State | Frequency % | Per million people |
| New York | 50 | 28702 | 0.000 | 3 |
| Florida | 47 | 26740 | 0.000 | 3 |
| California | 30 | 55206 | 0.000 | 1 |
| Georgia | 20 | 18569 | 0.000 | 2 |
| Kentucky | 19 | 11845 | 0.000 | 5 |
| Top States for COURTENAY by Frequency | ||||
| State | Total | Rank in State | Frequency % | Per million people |
| Maine | 8 | 12205 | 0.001 | 6 |
| Hawaii | 6 | 14580 | 0.000 | 5 |
| Kentucky | 19 | 11845 | 0.000 | 5 |
| Idaho | 6 | 18542 | 0.000 | 5 |
| South Carolina | 18 | 12907 | 0.000 | 4 |
'A figure of zero indicates that we don't have data for this name (usually because it's quite uncommon and our stats don't go down that far). It doesn't mean that there's no-one with that name at all!
For less common surnames, the figures get progressively less reliable the fewer holders of that name there are. This data is aggregated from several public lists, and some stats are interpolated from known values. The margin of error is well over 100% at the rarest end of the table!
For less common surnames, the frequency and "per million" values may be 0 even though there are people with that name. That's because they represent less than one in a million of the population, which ends up as 0 after rounding.
It's possible for a surname to gain in rank and/or total while being less common per million people (or vice versa) as there are now more surnames in the USA as a result of immigration. In mathematical terms, the tail has got longer, with a far larger number of less common surnames.
Figures for top states show firstly the states where most people called COURTENAY live. This obviously tends to be biased towards the most populous states. The second set of figures show where people called COURTENAY represent the biggest proportion of the population. So, in this case, there are more people called COURTENAY in New York than any other state, but you are more likely to find a COURTENAY by picking someone at random in Maine than anywhere else.
Region of origin: British Isles
Country of origin: England
Language of origin: English
Ethnic origin: English
Religious origin: Christian
Data for religion and/or language relates to the culture in which the COURTENAY surname originated. It does not necessarily have any correlation with the language spoken, or religion practised, by the majority of current American citizens with that name.
Data for ethnic origin relates to the region and country in which the COURTENAY surname originated. It does not necessarily have any correlation with the ethnicity of the majority of current American citizens with that name.
| Classification | Total | Percent |
|---|---|---|
| White (Caucasian) | 302 | 87.03 |
| Black/African American | 33 | 9.51 |
| White (Hispanic) | 7 | 2.02 |
| Asian/Pacific | Less than 100 | Insignificant |
| Mixed Race | Less than 100 | Insignificant |
| Native American/Alaskan | None reported | 0 |
Ethnic distribution data shows the number and percentage of people with the COURTENAY surname who reported their ethnic background as being in these broad categories in the most recent national census.
(origin: Local) A town of France which stands on a hill on the banks of the small river Clairy, about fifty-six miles south of Paris. This small town has imparted its name to several princes, whose actions are celebrated in French history. The name signifies "The court near the water."
Arthur, William (1857) An Etymological Dictionary of Family and Christian Names. New York: Sheldon, Blakeman. Public Domain.
COURTENAY. COURTNEY. Though the pedigree of this family is carried up to Pharamond, the founder of the French monarchy in the year 420, Gibbon only traces the residence of the race at Courtenay, in the Isle of France, to the year 1020. Indeed it would be useless to attempt to carry the origin of the surname beyond that point, notwithstanding the extremely curious and ingenious suggestion which follows : In the history of France we find, that "Charlemagne avaitdonne I'Aquitaine, avec le titre de roi, a son fils Louis, sous la tutelle de Guillaume au CouH-Ncz, due de Toulouse." Now who knows but the great French family of the Courteuays, and the illustrious Courtenays of Devonshire, may owe their name to this deficiency of nose in William of Toulouse? Though he does not pretend to get at the root, Gibbon only traces the family to 1020, when they were established at Courtenay ; but the sobriquet was given about the year 790, and might huve conferred a name upon tliC castle which William inhabited, and the country round it." N. & Q. vi. 106.
Lower, Mark A (1860) Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom. London: J.R. Smith. Public Domain.
The following names have similar spellings or pronunciations as COURTENAY.
This does not necessarily imply a direct relationship between the names, but may indicate names that could be mistaken for this one when written down or misheard.
Matches are generated automatically by a combination of Soundex, Metaphone and Levenshtein matching.
The following words are slight variants of COURTENAY that are likely to be possible typos or misspellings in written material.