Meaning: Its source is Courtenay, a Norman French name meaning "Domain of Curtius."

Origin: "Courtenay."

Alternative Spellings: Courtnay

Source Forms: Courtenay

Popularity: The name Courtney ranked 930th in popularity for males of all ages in a sample of 2000-2003 Social Security Administration statistics and 488th in popularity for males of all ages in a sample of the 1990 US Census.

Though this name has fluctuated in use, it has been quietly present throughout the last century.

Narrative: This is the surname of an aristocratic British family whose ancestors originated in Courtenay in northern France.

That place name is based on a Latin personal name meaning ''short,'' so it was not entirely inappropriate for people to have associated this name with the sound-alike French phrase court nez, meaning ''short nose,'' as they did long after the family had left its ancestral home.

Meaning: Its source is Courtenay, a Norman French name meaning "Domain of Curtius."

Origin: "Courtenay."

Languages: This girl's name is used in English.

Compound Forms: Courtlyn

Alternative Spellings: Cortney, Kortnee, Kortney, Kortni, Kortnie, Kortny, Kourtnee, Kourtney, Kourtni, Kourtny, Courtnie and Kourtnay

Variant Forms: Kortnay, Courteney, Courteny, Cortnee, Quartney, Cortne and Courtenay

Popularity: The name Courtney ranked 78th in popularity for females of all ages in a sample of 2000-2003 Social Security Administration statistics, 245th in popularity for females of all ages in a sample of the 1990 US Census and 26th in popularity for females of all ages in a sample of the 1994 US Census.

This name first made its appearance on state popularity lists of the 1990s, and has been trending upward in usage ever since.

Narrative: This is the surname of an aristocratic British family whose ancestors originated in Courtenay in northern France.

That place name is based on a Latin personal name meaning ''short,'' so it was not entirely inappropriate for people to have associated this name with the sound-alike French phrase court nez, meaning ''short nose,'' as they did long after the family had left its ancestral home.