Is Courtney A Popular Surname In Southern Ireland, Especially In Wexford And Waterford?

A good place to look for information about this surname is at www.ireland.com This is the website of the Irish Times. It has a searchable database of surnames in Ireland and distribution maps showing where surnames can be found.

The name can be either of Norman origin (Courtenai) or Gaelic and there are various forms of the name.
It can be found as Courtney, Courtenay, Courteney, O'Curnain and Cuarta in Ulster, other varients are MacCourtney and MacCuata.

It was most numerous in County Cork which is further south, along the eastern coast from Waterford and Wexford. It can also be found in Antrim, Armagh and County Monaghan.

The Irish Times data base shows that on the Primary Valuation or Griffiths Valuation 1848 - 64 it was most numerous in County Cork  and Ulster.

Our family came from Waterford county in the mid 1800's. My great great grandfather was John Courtney and settled in an eastern county of Ohio that has a different name now. At least one of the descendants moved to southeast Iowa. If I could find our records I could tell you more, but no nothing of the history of our Courtney's before John came from Ireland to Ohio.

Courtney was and is a well known surname in Southern Ireland, but it seems to originate from County Kerry rather than Wexford or Waterford. According to Irish Genealogy Online at irishgen.com/surnames , Courtney is of Irish origin, possibly derived from an old Irish name O' Curnain.

However, other sources say it was originally French,  from Courtenay or "domain of Curtius." (It is often thought to be based on a nickname, "court-nez" or "short-nose," though it probably isn't.)

In either case, there doesn't seem to be a historic connection with Wexford or Waterford. These counties were more often settled by the Nordic descendants of the early Viking invaders.