Kenny
A masculine name of Scottish origin meaning "handsome, attractive".
Name Census estimates that about 43,989 living Americans carry the first name Kenny. It is a predominantly male name (99.0% of registrations). The average person named Kenny today is around 49 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kenny births was 1960 (1,952 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kenny. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
Key insights
- • Although Kenny is used almost entirely for boys, the SSA data does show 542 girls registered with the name since 1880.
People living today
44K
~ 1 in 7,792 Americans
Peak year
1960
1,952 babies that year
Average age
49
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,354
Tracked since 1908
Gender
Gender distribution for Kenny
Kenny leans heavily male at 99.0% of total registrations, but 542 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Kenny as a male name
- Ranked #1,354 in 2024
- 140 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1960 (1,937 births)
Kenny as a female name
- Ranked #7,394 in 2024
- 15 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1960 (15 births)
Popularity
Kenny: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kenny from the 1900s through to the 2020s, spanning 13 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 12,466 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1960s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Kenny by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Kenny during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kennys live
The SSA's state-level files cover 48 states and territories. California, New York, Texas recorded the most babies named Kenny, while Maine, Delaware, Wyoming recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 988 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Kenny
The name Kenny is believed to have originated as a diminutive form of the Irish name Cainneach, which is derived from the Gaelic word "cain" meaning "handsome" or "bright." The name Cainneach is believed to date back to the 6th century and is associated with Saint Cainnech, one of the Twelve Apostles of Ireland.
The diminutive form Kenny emerged in the Middle Ages and was commonly used in Ireland and Scotland. It was particularly popular among families with Scottish or Irish heritage, and it eventually spread to other parts of the English-speaking world.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Kenny can be found in the Irish Annals of the Four Masters, which mention a person named "Cennedig" in the 9th century. Another early reference is found in the Book of Leinster, a 12th-century medieval Irish manuscript, which mentions a person named "Cennetig."
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals with the name Kenny. One of the earliest was Kenny MacAiden (c. 1200 - c. 1270), a Scottish nobleman and military leader who fought in the Wars of Scottish Independence against the English. Another notable figure was Kenny O'Daly (c. 1318 - c. 1380), an Irish poet and bard who wrote extensively in the Gaelic language.
In more recent times, the name has been borne by several famous individuals, including Kenny Everett (1944 - 1995), a British comedian and radio personality known for his innovative and irreverent humor. There was also Kenny Rogers (1938 - 2020), an American singer and actor famous for his country music hits and his role in the film "The Gambler."
Other notable individuals with the name Kenny include Kenny Dalglish (born 1951), a Scottish football player and manager who led Liverpool FC to numerous victories in the 1970s and 1980s, and Kenny Loggins (born 1948), an American singer-songwriter known for hits like "Footloose" and "Danger Zone."
Notable bearers
Famous people named Kenny
People
Kenny + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kenny as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with K
Other first names starting with K with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Kenny: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kenny?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 43,989 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kenny going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 7,792 US residents.
Is Kenny a common name?
We classify Kenny as "Uncommon". It ranks above 99.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 52,319 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kenny most popular?
The single biggest year for Kenny was 1960, when 1,952 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kenny is about 49 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Kenny a male name?
Yes, 99.0% of people registered as Kenny in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.