Boy · Scottish Gaelic
Kenneth
Say it: KEN-ith
Meaning
An English form of two Gaelic names, Cainnech and Cináed; their meanings are uncertain ('handsome' and 'born of fire' are proposals).
Uncertainseveral explanations, none settled.
Spread from Scotland in the 1800s and was very popular in the US in the mid 1900s.
Its wave through time
Fading since the 1950s
In the United States
- 1,282,888 babies given this name since 1880
- At its height in 1951, about 1 in 73 boys
- 1,466 babies in 2020
Through the ages
Used by
Famous bearers
- Kenneth MacAlpin, King of the Picts and Scots
Names worth a look
Where this comes from
- Royal and noble genealogies
- United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source
- United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source
Meanings and histories are compiled from the study of names and their languages and checked by a second review.
Meanings and histories are drawn from the study of names and their languages, each with a confidence rating; popularity figures come from official birth records. Name histories are a living field: if you know of a correction, we would be glad to hear it.