Cortez
Cortez was given to 101 boys in 2025, #1,655 among boys’ names; 10,988 Americans have been recorded with it since 1882 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 10,000 Americans named Cortez and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (91% of everyone recorded); the median is 29 years old and half are between 17 and 38.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Cortez by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
How popular is Cortez?
#1,655 among boys’ names, 2025
Cortez fell from #1,042 in 2015 to #1,655 in 2025 among boys’ names; its share of boys born fell from 0.10 to 0.06 per 1,000.
351 babies in 1990, the peak
Cortez peaked in 1990, when 351 babies were given it (346 boys, #531 among boys’ names). The 101 births of 2025 are 29% of that peak.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 101 | #1,655 | 0.06 |
| 2024 | 77 | #1,998 | 0.04 |
| 2023 | 84 | #1,881 | 0.05 |
| 2022 | 104 | #1,655 | 0.06 |
| 2021 | 145 | #1,301 | 0.08 |
| 2020 | 124 | #1,400 | 0.07 |
| 2019 | 147 | #1,272 | 0.08 |
| 2018 | 149 | #1,239 | 0.08 |
| 2017 | 176 | #1,104 | 0.10 |
| 2016 | 162 | #1,177 | 0.09 |
Every recorded year (114)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 192 | #1,042 | 0.10 |
| 2014 | 195 | #1,036 | 0.10 |
| 2013 | 229 | #908 | 0.12 |
| 2012 | 195 | #1,012 | 0.10 |
| 2011 | 195 | #996 | 0.10 |
| 2010 | 214 | #941 | 0.11 |
| 2009 | 227 | #909 | 0.11 |
| 2008 | 200 | #985 | 0.10 |
| 2007 | 205 | #960 | 0.10 |
| 2006 | 200 | #937 | 0.10 |
| 2005 | 223 | #833 | 0.11 |
| 2004 | 185 | #918 | 0.09 |
| 2003 | 195 | #876 | 0.10 |
| 2002 | 163 | #970 | 0.08 |
| 2001 | 205 | #812 | 0.11 |
| 2000 | 230 | #740 | 0.12 |
| 1999 | 240 | #696 | 0.12 |
| 1998 | 209 | #763 | 0.11 |
| 1997 | 213 | #729 | 0.11 |
| 1996 | 209 | #731 | 0.11 |
| 1995 | 235 | #692 | 0.12 |
| 1994 | 280 | #622 | 0.14 |
| 1993 | 313 | #581 | 0.16 |
| 1992 | 301 | #591 | 0.15 |
| 1991 | 323 | #564 | 0.16 |
| 1990 | 346 | #531 | 0.17 |
| 1989 | 320 | #541 | 0.16 |
| 1988 | 234 | #618 | 0.12 |
| 1987 | 218 | #614 | 0.12 |
| 1986 | 210 | #616 | 0.11 |
| 1985 | 191 | #637 | 0.10 |
| 1984 | 157 | #697 | 0.09 |
| 1983 | 145 | #714 | 0.08 |
| 1982 | 118 | #814 | 0.07 |
| 1981 | 113 | #828 | 0.06 |
| 1980 | 108 | #852 | 0.06 |
| 1979 | 96 | #891 | 0.06 |
| 1978 | 105 | #837 | 0.06 |
| 1977 | 95 | #870 | 0.06 |
| 1976 | 97 | #846 | 0.06 |
| 1975 | 86 | #891 | 0.06 |
| 1974 | 66 | #1,008 | 0.04 |
| 1973 | 88 | #844 | 0.06 |
| 1972 | 67 | #990 | 0.04 |
| 1971 | 60 | #1,051 | 0.03 |
| 1970 | 54 | #1,118 | 0.03 |
| 1969 | 45 | #1,172 | 0.03 |
| 1968 | 35 | #1,291 | 0.02 |
| 1967 | 37 | #1,231 | 0.02 |
| 1966 | 30 | #1,404 | 0.02 |
| 1965 | 44 | #1,130 | 0.02 |
| 1964 | 37 | #1,289 | 0.02 |
| 1963 | 34 | #1,339 | 0.02 |
| 1962 | 45 | #1,151 | 0.02 |
| 1961 | 28 | #1,527 | 0.01 |
| 1960 | 43 | #1,194 | 0.02 |
| 1959 | 34 | #1,338 | 0.02 |
| 1958 | 17 | #1,963 | 0.01 |
| 1957 | 22 | #1,723 | 0.01 |
| 1956 | 31 | #1,390 | 0.01 |
| 1955 | 32 | #1,344 | 0.02 |
| 1954 | 28 | #1,441 | 0.01 |
| 1953 | 14 | #2,113 | 0.01 |
| 1952 | 22 | #1,627 | 0.01 |
| 1951 | 13 | #2,155 | 0.01 |
| 1950 | 15 | #1,956 | 0.01 |
| 1949 | 21 | #1,625 | 0.01 |
| 1948 | 15 | #1,957 | 0.01 |
| 1947 | 17 | #1,864 | 0.01 |
| 1946 | 11 | #2,298 | 0.01 |
| 1945 | 14 | #1,868 | 0.01 |
| 1944 | 15 | #1,829 | 0.01 |
| 1942 | 14 | #1,967 | 0.01 |
| 1941 | 10 | #2,374 | 0.01 |
| 1939 | 9 | #2,490 | 0.01 |
| 1938 | 11 | #2,214 | 0.01 |
| 1937 | 13 | #2,015 | 0.01 |
| 1936 | 14 | #1,893 | 0.01 |
| 1935 | 12 | #2,150 | 0.01 |
| 1934 | 10 | #2,426 | 0.01 |
| 1933 | 15 | #1,844 | 0.02 |
| 1932 | 8 | #2,894 | 0.01 |
| 1931 | 20 | #1,597 | 0.02 |
| 1930 | 17 | #1,834 | 0.02 |
| 1929 | 11 | #2,471 | 0.01 |
| 1928 | 8 | #3,127 | 0.01 |
| 1927 | 6 | #3,858 | 0.01 |
| 1926 | 12 | #2,453 | 0.01 |
| 1925 | 17 | #1,948 | 0.02 |
| 1924 | 8 | #3,316 | 0.01 |
| 1923 | 16 | #2,039 | 0.01 |
| 1922 | 16 | #2,060 | 0.01 |
| 1921 | 15 | #2,169 | 0.01 |
| 1920 | 9 | #3,009 | 0.01 |
| 1919 | 13 | #2,287 | 0.01 |
| 1918 | 17 | #1,922 | 0.02 |
| 1917 | 17 | #1,835 | 0.02 |
| 1916 | 14 | #2,066 | 0.02 |
| 1915 | 13 | #2,091 | 0.02 |
| 1914 | 9 | #2,310 | 0.01 |
| 1912 | 8 | #1,916 | 0.02 |
| 1911 | 9 | #1,208 | 0.04 |
| 1909 | 5 | #1,499 | 0.03 |
| 1882 | 5 | #966 | 0.04 |
Ranks and shares: boys’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all boys SSA recorded that year.
Is Cortez a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Cortez has been given almost only to boys: 89 girls in 114 years of records.
Girls and boys named Cortez: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Cortez, and how old are they?
10,000 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 91% of the 10,988 Americans ever recorded as Cortez. The median Cortez alive today is 29 years old; half are between 17 and 38.
The 2020 Census counted 7,237 people named Cortez (113 women and girls, 7,124 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 9,623 born in the U.S. The Census count is 25% below that prediction. Possible reasons: people who give a short form or another name to the Census, and a survival estimate that can run high.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 36 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 331 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 1,000 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 3,560 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 3,240 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 1,870 |
An estimate, not a count. SSA’s files count people born in the United States who received a Social Security number, so anyone born abroad is not in them; before 1937 most people got a number as adults, and their survival is counted from that age.
Living estimate: SSA births carried forward with the survival rates in SSA’s cohort life tables (2024 Trustees Report) for each birth year and sex. How the estimate is made. Count: Census Bureau, first names in the 2020 Census (released April 14, 2026; names reported 100 or more times, with the Bureau’s disclosure-avoidance adjustment).
Where are babies named Cortez born?
The states with the most babies named Cortez are Texas, Michigan and California, with 63% of its births recorded by state in 2025.
| State | Births 2025 | Rank, boys | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| Texas | 12 | #1,499 | 0.2× |
| Michigan | 8 | #846 | 2.4× |
| California | 7 | #2,030 | 0.2× |
| Louisiana | 6 | #685 | 1.6× |
| Georgia | 5 | #1,390 | 1.8× |
| Mississippi | 5 | #545 | 3.1× |
Where Cortez is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Cortez is most over-represented in Missouri: since 1910 it was given 3.1 times as often there as its national share each year would predict.
States: SSA state file, 1910-2025, published May 8, 2026; births count girls and boys together, and the rank is among boys’ names in the state in 2025. The file leaves out any state and year with fewer than 5 babies of the name, so small states are undercounted; each ratio compares the state’s births of Cortez with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
Names spelled alike
Of these 3 names spelled alike, given to 11,906 babies since 1880, Cortez is the most given (92% of them). In 2025 it was given to 101 of their 115 babies (88%), again the most given.
Spelled alike: names in the SSA national file with the same pattern of letters and sounds and at most two letters apart, and Wiktionary’s listed forms; births since 1880 and in 2025, and each name’s peak year, from the SSA national file, published May 8, 2026. Some are separate names, not spellings of one.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Cortez
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
Similar histories: each decade’s share of births, from the SSA national file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
More about Cortez and names like it
- Compare Cortez and KortezBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1990sCortez peaked in 1990.
- Illinois’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Cortez since 1910.
- The top names of 1990The year the most babies were named Cortez.
- The names of the MillennialsMost people named Cortez alive today were born 1981-1996.
- Names starting with CMost given first.