Kenneth

Boy Scottish Gaelic #262 in 2023

Kenneth is a boy name of Scottish Gaelic origin.

Meaning of Kenneth

Originally used in Scotland, popular in all English-speaking countries in the 20th century. Anglicized form of two - names, Cináed, the name of Scottish kings derived from ᚉᚔᚅᚔᚑᚇ, and the saint's name lit=handsome (modern ), as in the surname Mackenzie.

Popularity of Kenneth

Popularity, 1880–2023

1,318 births in 2023

1880 2023

1,281,623 U.S. births recorded from 1880–2023. Used for both boys and girls — see notes below.

Peak year

1957

28,141 babies

First recorded

1880

Earliest SSA data

Recent trend

Falling

Last 5 yrs vs. prior 5

Similar names

Donald

Boy · Scottish Gaelic

Name of Scottish kings and an early saint, from Dòmhnall and reinforced by Donvaldus ~ Donaldus, from Domnall, from Dubnowalos

Kevin

Boy · Irish

Name of a seventh-century Irish saint, from Caoimhghin or Caoimhín, from Cóemgen

Karen

Girl · Ancient Greek

From Karen, a vernacular form of Catherine that arose in medieval Denmark

Kimberly

Girl · English

Popular in the 1960s and the 1970s

From several places in Scotland and Northern Ireland, derived from Gaelic caol (“narrows”)

About this page

Popularity counts come from the U.S. Social Security Administration's national dataset. Etymology adapted from Wiktionary under CC BY-SA 4.0. If you spot an error, please let us know.