Cortes

Spellings & scripts●

Locally spelled Cortez in US United States, AR Argentina, PH Philippines and 12 more and Cortés in SE Sweden.

Spellings marked ● are how people bearing the name write it in our records; ○ marks a model's transliteration. Click a spelling to open its page.

Meaning & origin●

Attested across 5 languages in the etymology graph.

Languages●

Language is read off each record's context, not declared by the bearer; a share is of all records for this spelling.

Other names spelled this way◐

Cortes is also recorded as 3 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• Catalan surname90K records spelled Cortes7 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Spain, France, United States, Andorra

  Languages: Catalan, French

  Also written Courteix, Cortés, Cortès

• a separate surname36K records spelled Cortes9 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Ecuador, Spain, United Kingdom

  Also written Cortés, Cortès, Côrtes, Cortês, Cort́es

• Lao surname9.0K records spelled Cortes25 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Laos, Thailand, Chile, United States

  Languages: Lao, Thai

  Also written Cortés, Cortès, Cörtës, คอร์เตส, Cortës

57 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Other recorded senses●

Cortes is also recorded in 5 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• In English, J. Hernan or Hernando, Spanish

  as a name·Pronouncing Dictionary of Proper Names

• In English, parliament in Spain & Portugal

  as a name·Pronouncing Dictionary of Proper Names

• In English, region, Honduras

  as a name·Pronouncing Dictionary of Proper Names

• In English, conquistador

  as a name·Pronouncing Dictionary of Proper Names

• In Portuguese, plural of corte (“court”)

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

Over time●

EC INEC — Visualizador de Nombres y Apellidos, per-token query API (1900–2024) — 123 years between 1901–2024. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Yara Cortesb. 1921BRBrazilian actress (1921–2002)
• John Cortesb. 1953GBGibraltarian politician
• Alejandro Cortesb. 1955COtennis player
• Corinna Cortesb. 1961DKDanish-American computer scientist
• Jorge Díazb. 1962ESnot in their usual nameSpanish writer
• Sergio Cortesb. 1968CLtennis player
• Elder Herrerab. 1968COnot in their usual nameColombian racing cyclist
• Avernob. 1977MXnot in their usual nameMexican professional wrestler
• Franco El Gorilab. 1979USnot in their usual namePuerto Rican singer
• Eddy Alvarezb. 1990USnot in their usual nameAmerican short track speed skater and baseball player

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

Evidence●

Register rows as of the 2026-09-12 data build · 183 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Cortes?

We estimate roughly 320 thousand people bear Cortes (counting its spellings and scripts) across 10 countries in our records.

In which country does Cortes have the most bearers?

Cortes is most frequently recorded in Mexico, where it is most often spelled cortes.

How common is Cortes compared with other names?

In Mexico, Cortes is the 38th most common surname of 198,716 surnames recorded there.

What does the name Cortes mean?

Recorded meaning: gentle, courteous