Cortez

Spellings & scripts●

Locally spelled Cortes in MX Mexico, ES Spain, CL Chile and 10 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 2 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◐

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

• a separate surname59K records spelled Cortez6 spellings in the group

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

  Also written Cortéz, Córtez, Cortêz, Côrtez, Cortèz

• French surname16K records spelled Cortez9 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in France, Spain, United States, Philippines

  Languages: French, Catalan

  Also written Cortéz, Cortèz, Cortêz, Ćòŕťéź, Cörtez

• Italian surname3.3K records spelled Cortez4 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Philippines, United States, Peru, San Marino

  Also written Cōrtėz, Cortéz, Cörtëz

68 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●

Cortez is also recorded in 3 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• gentle, courteous

  as a name·Dicionario Sefaradi De SobrenomesDictionary Of Sephardic Surnames Inclusive Cristaos-Novos, Conversos, Marranos, Italianos,…

• In Portuguese, Pre-reform spelling (used until 1943 in Brazil and 1911 in Portugal) of cortês.

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

• In Romanian, courteous, polite, kind

  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 1900–2024. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Ricardo Cortezb. 1900USAmerican actor (1900-1977)
• Stanley Cortezb. 1908USAmerican cinematographer (1908–1997)
• Freddie Gormanb. 1939USnot in their usual nameAmerican recording artist, songwriter and record producer
• Alberto Cortezb. 1940ARArgentine singer (1940-2019)
• Catherine Cortez Mastob. 1964USAmerican lawyer and politician (born 1964)
• Manuel Cortezb. 1979PTGerman actor
• Joana Cortezb. 1979BRBrazilian tennis player
• Bruno Cortêsb. 1987BRnot in their usual nameBrazilian association football player
• Cai Cortezb. 1988PHFilipina actress, comedian and model
• Kevin Rodríguezb. 2000ECnot in their usual nameEcuadorian footballer

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 · 320 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Cortez?

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

In which country does Cortez have the most bearers?

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

How common is Cortez compared with other names?

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

What does the name Cortez mean?

Recorded meaning: a surname, variant of Cortés