Kinnie
A feminine diminutive form of the name Josephine or Susan.
Name Census estimates that about 66 living Americans carry the first name Kinnie. It is a predominantly male name (97.0% of registrations). The average person named Kinnie today is around 72 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kinnie births was 1953 (9 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kinnie. 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
- • The typical person named Kinnie is about 72 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Kinnies were born before 1964.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Kinnie. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
66
~ 1 in 5,193,248 Americans
Peak year
1953
9 babies that year
Average age
72
years old
1964 SSA rank
#1,810
Tracked since 1900
Census
Kinnie in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 171 people with the first name Kinnie, which placed it at #42,203 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#42,203
National first-name rank
People counted
171
171 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
49.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kinnie
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kinnie is Black at 49.7%. The next largest groups are White (43.3%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (4.1%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Kinnie described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Kinnie at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American49.7% · 85
- White43.3% · 74
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.1% · 7
- Two or more races1.8% · 3
- Hispanic or Latino0.6% · 1
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 1
Gender
Gender distribution for Kinnie
Kinnie leans heavily male at 97.0% of total registrations, but 5 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Kinnie as a male name
- Ranked #4,346 in 1964
- 5 male births in 1964
- Peak: 1953 (9 births)
Kinnie as a female name
- Ranked #1,810 in 1901
- 5 female births in 1901
- Peak: 1901 (5 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Kinnie on both sides of the split. Of the 168 people counted with this name, 114 were male (67.9%) and 54 were female (32.1%).
Popularity
Kinnie: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kinnie from the 1900s through to the 1960s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 48 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1950s peak, Kinnie remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Kinnie 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 Kinnie during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Kinnie
The given name Kinnie has its origins in Scottish and Irish Gaelic cultures. It is derived from the Gaelic word "cionn," which means "chief" or "leader." The earliest recorded use of the name dates back to the 16th century, when it was primarily used as a nickname or diminutive form of the name Kenneth.
One of the earliest known historical figures with the name Kinnie was Kinnie MacDonald, a Scottish clan chief who lived in the late 16th century. He was renowned for his bravery and leadership during the clan wars in the Scottish Highlands. Another notable bearer of the name was Kinnie O'Neill, an Irish chieftain from County Tyrone in the early 17th century, who played a significant role in the Irish Confederate Wars.
In the 18th century, Kinnie Gillespie, a Scottish soldier, gained recognition for his valor during the Jacobite risings. He was awarded the prestigious Order of the Thistle for his service to the Scottish cause. Around the same time, Kinnie Byrne, an Irish poet and storyteller, became celebrated for her lyrical works that captured the essence of Irish folklore and tradition.
Moving into the 19th century, Kinnie Macpherson, a Scottish businessman and philanthropist, made significant contributions to the development of Glasgow. He founded several charitable organizations and was instrumental in improving the living conditions of the city's underprivileged population.
In more recent history, Kinnie Starr, a Canadian singer-songwriter and filmmaker of Scottish and Irish descent, has gained acclaim for her unique blend of hip-hop, rock, and folk music. Born in 1976, she has released several critically acclaimed albums and has also directed several short films.
While the name Kinnie has its roots in Scottish and Irish cultures, it has been adopted and used in various parts of the world, though primarily in English-speaking countries with strong Scottish or Irish heritage. The name carries a sense of strength, leadership, and connection to Celtic traditions.
People
Kinnie + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kinnie 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
Kinnie: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kinnie?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 66 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kinnie 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 5,193,248 US residents.
Is Kinnie a common name?
We classify Kinnie as "Very Rare". It ranks above 58.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 164 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kinnie most popular?
The single biggest year for Kinnie was 1953, when 9 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kinnie is about 72 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kinnie in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 171 people with the name Kinnie, or 0.06 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #42,203 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Kinnie in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Kinnie?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Kinnie on both sides of the split. Of the 168 people counted with this name, 114 were male (67.9%) and 54 were female (32.1%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Kinnie?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kinnie is Black at 49.7%. The next largest groups are White (43.3%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (4.1%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Kinnie most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Kinnie in the 2020 Census, accounting for 49.7% (85 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Kinnie in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kinnie a male name?
Yes, 97.0% of people registered as Kinnie 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.
Is Kinnie still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kinnie in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Kinnie can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
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.
How common is the name Kinnie?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.