Meaning & Story
From the Old French courtois meaning courtly, refined, or courteous — Curtis originated as a nickname for someone of refined manners and has been used as a given name since the Middle Ages.
Curtis has the solid, dependable quality of names that have been quietly in use for centuries without ever quite going out of fashion. It has a Midwestern steadiness to it — unpretentious, reliable, and carrying a genuine warmth that more dramatic names sometimes lack. On a male pet, Curtis suits an animal with an even, good-tempered disposition: the dog who has no particular enemies, a great many friends, and a consistently positive attitude about the general direction of things.