Kurtis is an American spelling of Curtis, an English surname from the Old French curteis, meaning "courteous" or "well-mannered". The K-spelling appeared in the 1960s when Curtis itself was a top 100 name. Kurtis stood at number 719 in 2000, its best rank in this period, and has slid steadily since, leaving the top 1000 and reaching number 2738 in 2025.