Korte
A surname that likely began as a descriptive nickname for someone of short stature, or as a related continental German/Dutch family name.
The #7,505 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 69,600 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The surname is most likely tied to German and Dutch korte, meaning "short." In surname use, that usually points to a nickname for a person of small stature or, more broadly, someone identified by a shortness-related trait. The form is also consistent with continental Germanic naming patterns, where short descriptive words became inherited family names.
History
The excerpts mainly show Korte as a German surname alongside related forms, rather than giving a full standalone entry. In the Germanic-speaking world, surnames of this type were often fixed from medieval nicknames and later spread as hereditary family names. The name is found today in both German- and Dutch-language contexts, and it may also appear in America through immigration.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
A famous historical parallel is the nickname Pepyn de Korte, rendered in English as Pepin the Short, showing how natural this kind of descriptive byname was in medieval Europe.
From the historical record
“Cordy. Fr. Cordeau ; Dch. Cordes, [( Cordia ; G. Korte ; p.n. Core. See Cory Corfield. A loc. n., Salop See Cornfield”
— British Family Names: their origin and meaning (2nd ed.)