Curtis

Curtis or Curtiss is a common English given name and surname of Anglo-Norman origin, deriving from the Old French ''curteis'' (Modern French ''courtois'') which was in turn derived from Latin ''cohors''. Nicknames include Curt, Curty and Curtie.

The name means "polite, courteous, or well-bred". It is a compound of ''curt-'' "court" and ''-eis'' "-ish". The spelling ''u'' to render [u] in Old French was mainly Anglo-Norman and Norman, when the spelling ''o'' [u] was the usual Parisian French one, Modern French ''ou'' [u]. ''-eis'' is the Old French suffix for ''-ois'', Western French (including Anglo-Norman) keeps ''-eis'', simplified to ''-is'' in English. The word ''court'' shares the same etymology but retains a Modern French spelling, after the orthography had changed.

It was brought to England (and subsequently, the rest of the Isles) via the Norman Conquest. In the United Kingdom, the name Curtis was at its height in 1996, when it was the 78th most popular boy's name in England and Wales. Curtis was the 72nd most popular boy's name in 1963 in the United States, but has declined in popularity there since. Many Hungarian immigrants in English-speaking countries with the last name ''Kertész'' have adopted the name ''Curtis'', since it is pronounced similarly and helped them integrate into their new community.

''Curtis'' or ''De Curtis'' is also a rare Italian surname (from Latin ''curtus''), meaning "short". Provided by Wikipedia