boy's name
Kenny
KEN-ee
- Origin Scottish
- Gender Boy
- Syllables 2
- Letters 5
- Popularity Uncommon
- Births on record 62,539
Scotland
#574
2024 births
Kenny sits on top of two different Gaelic names that English collapsed into one — Cináed, born of fire, and Coinneach, handsome. Kenneth serves both, so which one a Kenny descends from is usually unrecoverable.
- Kenny is a name of Scottish origin.
- Peaked in 1960, when 1,949 babies were given the name.
- It has been falling over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 20,592 babies in the United States is given this name.
- First appears in US birth records in 1908.
- 2 syllables, with the stress on syllable 1.
Kenny over time
Births per decade in the United States, 1900s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2025, not a full ten years.
Show the numbers
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 1900s | 11 |
| 1910s | 85 |
| 1920s | 267 |
| 1930s | 1,310 |
| 1940s | 5,009 |
| 1950s | 8,457 |
| 1960s | 12,464 |
| 1970s | 4,836 |
| 1980s | 5,663 |
| 1990s | 5,401 |
| 2000s | 5,231 |
| 2010s | 2,751 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 994 |
What Kenny means
Kenny means born of fire or handsome, depending on which Gaelic name lies underneath. English merged two distinct originals, so the name carries two meanings rather than one.
Where Kenny comes from
Kenny shortens Kenneth, which anglicizes two separate Gaelic names. Cináed, born of fire, was carried by Cináed mac Ailpín, traditionally the first king of the Scots. Coinneach, handsome or comely, is a different word entirely and gives the surname Mackenzie. English took Kenneth as the equivalent of both, and once that happened the distinction was lost — a merge that happened repeatedly where an English clerk needed one spelling for two sounds.
Kenny in use
Kenny peaked in the United States in 1960, when 1,949 babies were registered, and is falling in our data. It now ranks 574th in Scotland on 5 births, 747th in Ireland on 4, 883rd in England and Wales on 36, 1063rd in France on 35 and 1270th in the United States on 161, across 62,539 lifetime births in six of the seven markets we track. France ran a surprising peak of 385 births in 1992.
How popular is Kenny?
In 2025, Kenny was given to 161 babies in the United States. It is used consistently but remains uncommon.
Where Kenny is used
US figures omit any name given to fewer than five babies in a year, so the rarest names are absent from the source rather than absent from use. Data & sources.
How Kenny is spelled
Birth registers count each spelling separately, so every one has its own ranking.
| Spelling | What it is | Births on record |
|---|---|---|
| Kénny | Kénny is a rare spelling of Kenny, written with an acute accent and recorded about 15 times, mostly in France. | 15 |
Names that peaked alongside Kenny
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Kenny also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Kenny over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
Kenny in other languages
The same name as it is spelled elsewhere — not shortenings, and not different names that merely sound alike. Each one has its own record here.
Sibling names for Kenny
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Kenny — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Kenny
What does the name Kenny mean?
Born of fire or handsome — English merged two separate Gaelic names into Kenneth.
Who was Cináed mac Ailpín?
Traditionally the first king of the Scots.
Is Mackenzie related?
To Coinneach, yes — the other of the two names behind Kenneth.
How popular is Kenny?
It charts in five of our six markets, strongest in Scotland at 574th.
Is Kenny a girl's or a boy's name?
Kenny is given almost entirely to boys in birth records.
How many syllables are in Kenny?
Kenny has 2 syllables.
Is Kenny a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Kenny currently ranks #574 in the United States. It has been falling over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.