Courtney
/ˈkɔːrtni/noun
A given name and surname of Anglo-Norman origin, derived from the place name Courtenay in France.
Did you know?The surname became prominent in England after the Norman Conquest, when families connected to Courtenay in France entered the English aristocracy.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*sker-
“To cut or cut off; a proposed ancient root connected with ideas of shortness and cutting.”
Ancient Latin
Latin
curtus
“Short, shortened, or cut off.”
Gallo-Roman period
Gallo-Roman
Curteniacum
“A place-name probably meaning the estate or settlement associated with a person named Curtenius; the precise formation is debated.”
11th Century
Old French
Courtenay
“The name of a town in northern-central France, later associated with a powerful noble family.”
12th Century
Anglo-Norman
de Courtenay
““Of Courtenay,” a locational surname carried into England by Norman and French aristocratic families.”
Modern English
English
Courtney
“A hereditary surname and later a masculine or feminine given name.”