Curtis

C3U1R1T1I1S1
US/ˈkɝtɪs/UK/ˈkɜːtɪs/

proper noun

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

CommonScrabble 8

Meanings

proper noun

alternative Curtiss

  1. An English surname transferred from the nickname, originally a nickname for a refined or courtly person.
  2. A male given name transferred from the surname.

    A cold world, Curtis, in every office but thine; and therefore, fire.

    c. 1590–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Taming of the Shrew”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene i]
    3 more examples

    The night once come, our happiness, our unhappiness, — it is all abolished; vanished, clean gone; a thing that has been: ‘not of the slightest consequence’ whether we were happy as eupeptic Curtis, as the fattest pig of Epicurus, or unhappy as job with potsherds, as musical Byron with Giaours and sensibilities of the heart […]

    1843 April, Thomas Carlyle, “chapter IV, Happy”, in Past and Present, American edition, Boston, Mass.: Charles C[offin] Little and James Brown, published 1843, →OCLC, book III (The Modern Worker)

    Without undue haste, we named him Curtis simply because we liked the name. It seemed to suit the little guy too. Knowing my love of aviation, several friends and relatives wrongly assumed we have named him after the Curtiss Aircraft Company. I hadn't thought of this, but it was a great idea. There are some terrific aircraft company names to choose. You'll see the likes of Douglas, Martin, Edwards, Ryan, Miles and Albert just to name a few.

    1999, Bernie Runstedler, Jr., Breezes Against My Brow, General Store Publishing House., →ISBN, page 77

    White House chief strategist Steve Bannon has been in contact via intermediaries with Curtis Yarvin, Politico Magazine reported this week.

    2017 February 10, Rosie Gray, “Behind the Internet's Anti-Democracy Movement”, in The Atlantic, archived from the original on 10 Jan 2020
  3. A number of places in the United States:

Origin

  1. Old Frenchcorteis
  2. EnglishCurtis

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

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

Cite this entry
APA

Curtis. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Curtis

MLA

“Curtis.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Curtis. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Curtis,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Curtis.

Source: Curtis on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.