The Cortez surname
In the 2010 U.S. Census, 101,694 people carried this name — #310 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 2,900 people counted. That is up 31% from 77,492 in 2000.
Where the name comes from
The origin of the Cortez surname
From Spanish Cortez, variant of Cortés.
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary (en.wiktionary.org) — entry «Cortez» (English), by Wiktionary contributors · licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0) · excerpt, lightly adapted.
In Argentina’s national register
At least 39,993 people named Cortez live in Argentina.
RENAPER only publishes a name in a province when more than ten people there share it, so the real number is higher. Most of them live in Buenos Aires Province.
Where it concentrates, on the mapWhere they live today
RENAPER (National Registry of Persons, Argentina), surnames of residents by province, December 2021 — CC BY 4.0.
In France’s civil register
France’s register of deaths holds 180 people named Cortez.
52 of them were born outside France. Those born in France came from 24 départements, most often Var.
Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.
Where they were born
Fichier des personnes décédées, INSEE — Licence Ouverte 2.0 · deaths recorded in France since 1970, by place of birth.
In Switzerland’s population statistics
134 people named Cortez live in Switzerland.
They live in 13 of Switzerland’s 26 cantons, most of all in Geneva.
Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.
Where they live today
Swiss Federal Statistical Office (FSO), «Surnames of the permanent resident population by canton», 2025, opendata.swiss/en/dataset/nachnamen-der-standigen-wohnbevolkerung-nach-kanton3 · names with fewer than 3 bearers in a canton are not published.
In the Nordic population registers
36 people named Cortez is counted in Sweden.
Sweden’s figure is from 31 December 2022, the last count Statistics Sweden published.
Counted, by country
Own calculations based on data from Statistics Sweden (SCB), surnames with at least two bearers, 31 December 2022 — CC BY 4.0 (names with 20 or more bearers shown).
In print
Cortez in American newspapers,
1889–1917.
Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain.
Who carried it
People named Cortez,
with a public archive behind them.
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Ricardo Cortez 1900–1977 · actor -
Emma Cortez 1829–1890 · actor
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Fernand Cortez 1844– · historian
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Raoul A. Cortez 1905–1971 · businessperson
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Stanley Cortez 1908–1997 · cinematographer
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Aurora Cortés 1909–1998 · actor
Wikidata and Wikimedia Commons (CC0) · 10 lives in all are documented under this name.
Nearby in the index
Surnames next to Cortez.
- Corson 5,268 · U.S. census
- Corte 747 · U.S. census
- Cortes 46,229 · U.S. census
- Cortese 4,221 · U.S. census
- Cortesi 183 · U.S. census
- Corteville 159 · U.S. census
- Corti 435 · U.S. census
- Cortijo 518 · U.S. census
- Cortina 3,031 · U.S. census
- Cortopassi 435 · U.S. census
- Corvi 283 · U.S. census
- Corvo 373 · U.S. census
When the index is not enough
This page says where Cortez is.
A volume says what happened to it.
Every page in the index is free and stays free. The Heritage Volume is the long form: the full paper trail, the arms, the crossing — bound, and yours.