Mckena
A modern feminine name of uncertain origin and meaning, perhaps derived from "Kenneth".
Name Census estimates that about 403 living Americans carry the first name Mckena. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Mckena today is around 23 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Mckena births was 1996 (26 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Mckena. 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.
People living today
403
~ 1 in 850,507 Americans
Peak year
1996
26 babies that year
Average age
23
years old
2019 SSA rank
#14,961
Tracked since 1990
Census
Mckena in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 402 people with the first name Mckena, which placed it at #24,093 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
#24,093
National first-name rank
People counted
402
402 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
84.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Mckena
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Mckena is White at 84.6%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (5.7%) and Hispanic (4.7%). 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 Mckena 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 Mckena at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White84.6% · 340
- Two or more races5.7% · 23
- Hispanic or Latino4.7% · 19
- Black or African American3.2% · 13
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.0% · 4
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 3
Popularity
Mckena: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Mckena from the 1990s through to the 2010s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 199 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Mckena remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Mckena 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 Mckena 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 Mckena
The name Mckena has its origins in Scotland, where it is a variant spelling of the Scottish Gaelic name Mackenna. It is derived from the Gaelic words "mac" meaning "son" and "cionaith" meaning "fair" or "handsome". The name thus means "son of the fair one" or "son of the handsome one".
This name first appeared in historical records in the 12th century, during the Middle Ages in Scotland. It was a personal name commonly used by Scottish clans and families, particularly in the Highlands region. The earliest recorded bearer of the name was Gillebride Mackennan, who was a witness to a charter granted by King William the Lion of Scotland in 1189.
In the 16th century, the name Mckena gained some prominence when it was borne by Sir John Mckenna, a Scottish nobleman and military commander who fought in the Battle of Flodden Field in 1513. Another notable bearer of the name was Mckena of the Isles, a 16th-century Scottish chieftain and leader of the Clan Donald.
During the 17th and 18th centuries, the name Mckena was carried by several Irish families, likely due to the migration of Scottish settlers to Ireland. One notable bearer was Mckena O'Reilly, an Irish soldier who fought in the Battle of the Boyne in 1690.
In the 19th century, the name Mckena appeared in several literary works, including the novel "Rob Roy" by Sir Walter Scott, where a character named Mckena MacGregor was featured. Another literary reference was in the novel "The Master of Ballantrae" by Robert Louis Stevenson, which had a character named Mckena Durie.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Mckena, including:
1. Mckena of the Isles (c. 1500-1560), a Scottish chieftain and leader of the Clan Donald.
2. Sir John Mckenna (c. 1485-1513), a Scottish nobleman and military commander.
3. Mckena O'Reilly (c. 1670-1710), an Irish soldier who fought in the Battle of the Boyne.
4. Mckena MacGregor (fictional character), featured in the novel "Rob Roy" by Sir Walter Scott.
5. Mckena Durie (fictional character), featured in the novel "The Master of Ballantrae" by Robert Louis Stevenson.
People
Mckena + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Mckena as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with M
Other first names starting with M with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Mckena: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Mckena?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 403 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Mckena 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 850,507 US residents.
Is Mckena a common name?
We classify Mckena as "Very Rare". It ranks above 82.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 411 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Mckena most popular?
The single biggest year for Mckena was 1996, when 26 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Mckena is about 23 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Mckena in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 402 people with the name Mckena, or 0.13 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #24,093 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 Mckena 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 Mckena?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Mckena leans strongly female. 401 people counted with this name were female (98.5%), compared with 6 male bearers (1.5%). 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 Mckena?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Mckena is White at 84.6%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (5.7%) and Hispanic (4.7%). 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 Mckena most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Mckena in the 2020 Census, accounting for 84.6% (340 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 Mckena in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Mckena a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Mckena in the SSA data are female. 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 Mckena still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Mckena 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 Mckena 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 many people have the name Mckena?
For a quick modern take, check how many people share the name Mckena on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.