As a given name, Cory is used by both males and females. It is a variation of the name Cora, meaning "(the) Maiden", which is a title of the goddess Persephone. The name also can have origins from the Gaelic word coire, which means "in a cauldron", or "in a hollow".

As a surname, it has a number of possible derivations, including an Old Norse personal name Kori of uncertain meaning, which is found in Scandinavia and England.^[1] As an Irish surname it comes from Ó Comhraidhe (descendant of Comhraidheh).^[2]

Notable people or fictional characters named Cory include

• Cory Aldridge (born 1979), American baseball player
• Cory Alexander (born 1973), American basketball player
• Cory Arcangel (born 1978), American digital artist
• Cory Asbury (born 1985), American Christian musician and worship pastor
• Cory Bent (born 1997), English footballer
• Cory Booker (born 1969), United States senator from New Jersey
• Cory Bowles (born 1973), Canadian actor and choreographer
• Cory Carr (born 1975), American-Israeli basketball player
• Cory Conacher (born 1989), Canadian ice hockey player
• Cory Cory-Wright (1838–1909), British businessman
• Cory Cotton (born 1987), writer and member of the American sports conglomerate Dude Perfect
• Cory Cyrenne (born 1977), Canadian ice hockey player
• Cory Doctorow (born 1971), Canadian journalist and author
• Cory Doran (born 1982), Canadian voice actor
• Cory Edwards, American writer and director
• Cory Everson (born 1958), American bodybuilder and actress
• Cory Fong (born 1972), American public servant
• Cory Gearrin (born 1986), American baseball player
• Cory Gibbs (born 1980), American association footballer
• Cory Hardrict (born 1979), American actor
• Cory Henry (born 1987), American pianist, organist and singer-songwriter
• Cory Jane (born 1983), New Zealand rugby union footballer
• Cory Kennedy (model) (born 1990), American model
• Cory Kennedy (skateboarder), American professional skateboarder
• Cory La Quay, American drummer of the post-hardcore band A Skylit Drive
• Cory Lerios (born 1951), American pianist and vocalist
• Cory Leslie (born 1989), American steeplechase runner
• Cory Lidle (1972–2006), American baseball player
• Cory Marks, Canadian country rock singer
• Cory McGrath (born 1979), Australian rules footballer
• Cory Monteith (1982–2013), Canadian actor
• Cory Morgan (ice hockey) (born 1978), Canadian ice hockey player
• Cory Morrow (born 1972), American singer-songwriter
• Cory Nelms (born 1988), American football player
• Cory Paterson (born 1987), Australian rugby league footballer
• Cory Pecker (born 1981), Canadian ice hockey player
• Cory Philpot (born 1970), Canadian Football League player
• Cory Quirino (born 1953), Filipino TV host
• Cory Redding (born 1980), American National Football League player
• Cory Rooney, American songwriter and record producer
• Cory Sarich (born 1978), Canadian ice hockey player
• Cory Schlesinger (born 1972), American footballer
• Cory Spangenberg (born 1991), American baseball player
• Cory Spinks (born 1978), American boxer
• Cory Stillman (born 1973), Canadian ice hockey player
• Cory Sullivan (born 1979), American baseball player
• Cory Trice (born 2000), American football player
• Cory Wade (born 1983), American baseball player
• Cory Walker (born 1980), American comic book artist
• Cory Wells (1941–2015), American singer
• Cory T. Williams, American attorney and Democratic politician
• Cory Williams (born 1981), American YouTube personality also known as "Mr. Safety"
• Cory DeVante Williams (born 1992), American YouTube personality also known as "CoryxKenshin"
• Cory Witherill (born 1971), American race car driver
• Cory Wong (born c. 1985), American guitarist

Surname

• Annie Sophie Cory (1868–1952), English author
• Asa Howe Cory (1814–1892), American Civil War captain
• Arthur Cory, American politician
• Charles B. Cory (1857–1921), American ornithologist and golfer
• Clifford Cory (1859–1941), Welsh coal owner and Liberal Party politician
• Donald Webster Cory, pen name of Edward Sagarin (1913–1986)
• Eleanor Cory (born 1943), American composer
• Fanny Cory, American illustrator of the Little Miss Muffet comic book
• Florence Elizabeth Cory (1851–1902), American industrial designer and school founder
• George Cory (historian) (1862–1935), South African chemist and historian
• George Norton Cory (1874–1968), Canadian Lieutenant-General
• J. Campbell Cory (1867–1925), American cartoonist
• John Cory (1828–1910), British philanthropist, coal-owner, and ship-owner
• Judith A. Cory, Oscar-nominated makeup artist
• Kate Cory (1861–1958), American photographer and painter of Hopi
• Peter Cory (1925–2020), judge on the Supreme Court of Canada
• Robert Cory, English churchman and professor of moral philosophy
• William Johnson Cory (1823–1892), English educator and poet
• William Wallace Cory (1865–1943), Canadian politician

Nickname

• Corazon Aquino (1933–2009), Filipino politician and former president of the Philippines

Fictional characters

• Cory Baxter, from the TV series That's So Raven and Cory in the House
• Cory Dollanganger, from the 1979 novel Flowers in the Attic by V. C. Andrews
• Cory Ellison, from the TV series The Morning Show
• Cory Matthews, from the TV series Boy Meets World and Girl Meets World
• Cory Maxson, from the play Fences, by August Wilson
• "Richard Cory", the subject of an 1897 poem by Edwin Arlington Robinson
• The Cory family, from the soap opera Another World