Curtis

Spellings & scripts●

Locally spelled קרטיס in IL Israel.

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◐

Curtis is also recorded as 5 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• Spanish given name169K records spelled Curtis6 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Colombia, Brazil, Argentina

  Languages: Spanish, Portuguese, Italian

  Also written Curtiș, Curtîș

• a separate given name66K records spelled Curtis2 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Italy

  Also written Curṫis

• French given name38K records spelled Curtis7 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in France, United States, Canada, United Kingdom

  Also written Curtìs, Cùrtis, Çurtis, Curtís, Cûrtîs

• Indonesian given name6.4K records spelled Curtis5 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Indonesia, United Kingdom, Canada

  Languages: Indonesian, Malay

  Also written Çûrtís, Curtís, Cürtis

• Czech given name4.1K records spelled Curtis4 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Czechia, Slovakia, United Kingdom

  Languages: Czech, Slovak

  Also written Curtiş, Cűrţis

72 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●

Curtis 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.

• Transferred use of the surname, which originated in the Middle Ages as a nickname for someone who was ‘cour- _ teous’ (Old French curteis). At an early date, however, it came to be associated with Middle English curt ‘short’ + hose ‘leggings’; compare Courtney.

  as a name·A concise dictionary of first names

• In English, An English surname transferred from the nickname, originally a nickname for a refined or courtly person.

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

• In Italian, forma latinizada de Curti ou de Corti

  as a name·Dicionário dos sobrenomes italianos

• In English, from OFr corteis/courtois 'courteous'; first attested Curteis de Capella 1130 P (Wa)

  as a name·A Dictionary of English Surnames

• In English, Courteous

  as a name·Baby names, 25,350 baby names nicknames for your family, friends pets, including the top 100 names, 2,000 most popular…

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●

US SSA — National Baby Names (1880–present) — 146 years between 1880–2025. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Curtis LeMayb. 1906USAmerican general and politician (1906–1990)
• Peter Lamontb. 1929GBnot in their usual nameart director (1929-2020)
• Curtis Callanb. 1942USAmerican physicist
• Curtis Hansonb. 1945USAmerican filmmaker (1945–2016)
• Curtis Armstrongb. 1953USAmerican actor, voice actor, and singer (born 1953)
• Curtis Scaparrottib. 1956USUnited States Army General
• Curtis T. McMullenb. 1958USAmerican mathematician and Fields medallist
• Tuc Watkinsb. 1966USnot in their usual nameAmerican actor
• 50 Centb. 1975USnot in their usual nameAmerican rapper and actor (born 1975)
• Curtis Jonesb. 2001GBEnglish association football player (born 2001)

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 · 650 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Curtis?

We estimate roughly 162 thousand people bear Curtis (counting its spellings and scripts) across 5 countries in our records.

In which country does Curtis have the most bearers?

We estimate about 159 thousand people bear Curtis in the United States, more than in any other country in our records, where it is most often spelled curtis.

How common is Curtis compared with other names?

In the United States, Curtis is the 252nd most common given name of 3,122,706 given names recorded there.

Is Curtis a male or female name?

Curtis is a male name in our records. Opposite-gender entries fall within the cross-gender noise we measure in the source data, so we don't report them as usage.

What does the name Curtis mean?

Recorded meaning: from a medieval nickname for a refined/courteous person, or ironically a boorish person; or for a short person/one who wore short stockings.