Curtis

What Curtis means

Means “polite, courteous”

From Old French corteis and curteis (Modern French courtois (“polite, courteous”).

Source: Wiktionary, “Curtis” (revision 94538554), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Curtis?

US: Falling: down from #527 in 2015. England & Wales: Falling: down from #445 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 1962, when 5,569 boys got the name (#73 that year). First in the US records in 1880.

How common

• About 1 in 7,362 baby boys in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 9,377 baby boys in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 2,806 baby boys in Scotland in 2025

“1 in N” divides by all listed births for that sex. The US list leaves out names given to fewer than 5 babies, and the UK lists leave out names given to 2 or fewer, so the real figure is a little rarer than shown.

Where in the US

Most popular in MS (0.74 per 1,000 boys), ID (0.7 per 1,000 boys), NV (0.53 per 1,000 boys) in 2025.

SSA state data, 2025. Share of all listed boys born in each state.

US vs UK

Curtis is #984 in the US and #1035 in England & Wales (2025).

Same sex as this page (boys). SSA (US), ONS (England and Wales), NRS (Scotland).

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 99.9+% of US babies named Curtis were boys.

Counts below the publishing threshold (US 5, UK 3) are not included.

How to say it

IPA from Wiktionary.

Other spellings parents chose in 2025

• Kurtis47 US · 4 E&W

Names that sound the same and differ by a letter or two, with baby counts for the same sex. US and E&W counts.

If you like Curtis

Boys

• Keith#800“wood”^*
• Corey#778possibly “troop, host, company”^*
• Travis#434“to cross over”^*
• Kyle#508“narrows”^*
• Nelson#824“son of Nicholas”^*
• Taylor#683From the word “tailor”^*

For a sister

• Tiffany#878Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 1988, with 18,364 babies; 304 in 2025
• Kelsey#814Editor’s note Cooling off in the US: #343 in 2015, #814 in 2025
• Kelly#851Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 1977, with 18,234 babies; 319 in 2025
• Ashley#164“ash tree + wood, clearing”^*
• Kimberly#302Editor’s note Cooling off in the US: #108 in 2015, #302 in 2025
• Shelby#649Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 1991, with 10,220 babies; 444 in 2025

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under From a surname, whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Curtis’s. Rank is US 2025.