Cortes
A surname often linked to Spanish places or courts, from a word meaning an enclosed homestead or courtly assembly.
The #751 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 6,679 Americans shares it.
Etymology
This surname is usually explained from Spanish corte, meaning a court, courtyard, or enclosed homestead. The cited historical discussion traces it back to Late Latin curtis, the source of French cour and Italian cortile, and notes that related place-names could become surnames. In some cases it may also have been influenced by the word cortes, the plural used for the Spanish assemblies known as the Cortes, though the place-name explanation is the stronger general surname origin.
History
The excerpts suggest that Cortes developed as a locality-based surname in Spain and spread from several regions, with plural and singular forms both used as surnames. Because the word also named political assemblies, some families may have acquired the surname through association with a place called Cortes or with people connected to a court or household complex. In the Americas and the modern Spanish-speaking world, the surname is widespread, and it is also familiar through the historical name Hernán Cortés, though that spelling includes an accent in the famous conquistador’s name.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The historical notes say that people living in or around a cluster of such houses could be called cortesanos, a word that later came to mean “courtier.”
From the historical record
“pierde la deuda, quedando el labrador libre de ella Leyes 15,16 1 17, tit 31, (06. 11, Nov. Rec., ¡ art. 10 del decret de Cortes de 8 de junio de 1813, restabl. en 6 de Setier:- bre de 1836. Lado. El costado Lo que está a la derecha o izquierda de un lado. Sitio, lugar.”
— Diccionario de los apellidos