Kenneth

What Kenneth means

Means “handsome”

Anglicized form of two Goidelic names, Old Irish Cináed, the name of Scottish kings derived from Pictish *ᚉᚔᚅᚔᚑᚇ (Ciniod), and the saint's name Cainnech (literally “handsome”) (modern Scottish Gaelic Coinneach), as in the surname Mackenzie.

Source: Wiktionary, “Kenneth” (revision 93671958), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Kenneth?

US: Falling: down from #198 in 2015. England & Wales: Falling: down from #888 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 1951, when 25,841 boys got the name (#16 that year). First in the US records in 1880.

How common

• About 1 in 1,488 baby boys in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 9,065 baby boys in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 3,274 baby boys in Scotland in 2025

“1 in N” divides by all listed births for that sex. The US list leaves out names given to fewer than 5 babies, and the UK lists leave out names given to 2 or fewer, so the real figure is a little rarer than shown.

Where in the US

Most popular in AK (3.08 per 1,000 boys), DC (1.98 per 1,000 boys), WV (1.46 per 1,000 boys) in 2025.

SSA state data, 2025. Share of all listed boys born in each state.

US vs UK

Kenneth is #294 in the US and #1007 in England & Wales (2025).

Same sex as this page (boys). SSA (US), ONS (England and Wales), NRS (Scotland).

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 99.9+% of US babies named Kenneth were boys.

Counts below the publishing threshold (US 5, UK 3) are not included.

How to say it

IPA from Wiktionary.

Other spellings parents chose in 2025

• Keneth12 US
• Kennith6 US

Names that sound the same and differ by a letter or two, with baby counts for the same sex. US and E&W counts.

If you like Kenneth

Boys

• Donald#690“prince / chief of the world”^*
• Shawn#681“God is gracious”^*
• Allen#578Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 1951, with 5,179 babies; 507 in 2025
• Brian#339Same root as Brendan, meaning “prince, king”^*
• Shane#635“God is gracious”^*
• Marvin#699Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 1928, with 4,452 babies; 385 in 2025

For a sister

• Jennifer#586Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 1972, with 63,600 babies; 501 in 2025
• Megan#887Diminutive of Margaret, meaning “pearl”^*
• Bridget#724Editor’s note Down from #534 in 2015 to #724 in 2025 in the US
• Briana#661Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 1994, with 5,000 babies; 431 in 2025
• Morgan#312Editor’s note Cooling off in the US: #121 in 2015, #312 in 2025
• Jenna#679Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 1985, with 6,436 babies; 418 in 2025

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under Irish & Celtic, whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Kenneth’s. Rank is US 2025.