Corte History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England
Germany
Italy
Spain

Early Origins of the Corte family

The surname Corte was first found in the several places named "Corte," in Italy. The Italian word corte means "court," as in a manorial court. The surname can be traced back to the year 1123, when members of the Corte family lived in Salerno.

Early History of the Corte family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Corte research. The years 1308, 1470, 1480, 1529, 1570 and 1666 are included under the topic Early Corte History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Corte Spelling Variations

Italian surnames come in far more variations than the names of most other nationalities. Regional traditions and dialects are a decisive factor in this characteristic. For example, northern names tend to end in "o", while southern in "i". Also important, but not unique to Italy, was the fact that before dictionaries and the printing press most scribes simply spelled words according to their sounds. The predictable result was an enormous number of spelling variations. The recorded spellings of Corte include Corte, Corti, Da Corte, Dalla Corte, Della Corte, La Corte, Cortella, Cortello, Cortelli, Cortelletti, Cortellino, Cortellini, Corticelli, Cortini, Cortese, Cortesi, Corteggiano, Cortigiani, Cortesano and many more.

Early Notables of the Corte family

Prominent among bearers of this surname in early times was

Tolomeo dei Cortesi, who was from one of the most ancient families in Cremona. He was a lawyer and in 1308 was elected mayor of Perugia. Paolo Cortesi of Rome was a famous author around 1470
Gregorio Cortese was an ecclesiastic in Modena around 1480
Alberto Cortese, born in Modena in the 15th century, was a respected lawyer
Cristoforo Cortese was an artist in Venice at this time
Ersilia Cortese, born in Rome in 1529, was a member of the noble class and thus had many suitors
Giulio Cortese was a lawyer in Naples around 1570
Cesare Corte of Genoa was a prominent painter at this time
Bartolomeo Corte, born in Milan in 1666, was a nobleman and a doctor

Corte migration to the United States +

An examination of many early immigration records reveals that people bearing the name Corte arrived in North America very early:

Corte Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Francisco Corte, aged 28, who arrived in New Orleans, La in 1837 1
Mariano Corte, aged 28, who arrived in New Orleans, La in 1847 1
J Corte, aged 28, who arrived in New Orleans, La in 1859 1
Salustiano Corte, who landed in Puerto Rico in 1883 1
Joseph Corte, who landed in Colorado in 1883 1

Corte migration to Australia +

Emigration to Australia followed the First Fleets of convicts, tradespeople and early settlers. Early immigrants include:

Corte Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century

James Corte, who arrived in Adelaide, Australia aboard the ship "David Malcolm" in 1847 2

Contemporary Notables of the name Corte (post 1700) +

Frank Julius Corte Jr. (b. 1959), American real estate businessman and politician who served as a Republican member of the Texas House of Representatives between 1993 and 2011
Alex Da Corte (b. 1980), American conceptual artist who works in painting, sculpture, installation, and video from Camden, New Jersey
Nicholas St. John La Corte (1918-1966), American Republican politician, Mayor of Elizabeth, New Jersey, 1953-55; Member of New Jersey State House of Assembly from Union County, 1964-65 3
Roch Joseph Laurent Hyacinthe Corte, French Brigadier General during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars from 1789 to 1815 4
Afonso Corte Real (1805-1840), Brazilian military and revolutionary
Corte McGuffey, American former quarterback for the New York/New Jersey Hitmen of the XFL, awarded the Harlon Hill Trophy for Player of the Year in NCAA Division in 1999

Citations +

Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)
State Records of South Australia. (Retrieved 2010, November 5) DAVID MALCOLM 1847. Retrieved from http://www.slsa.sa.gov.au/BSA/1847DavidMalcolm.htm
The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2015, October 7) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html
Generals Who Served in the French Army during the Period 1789-1815. (Retrieved 2015, February 13) Roch Corte. Retrieved from http://www.napoleon-series.org/research/c_frenchgenerals.html