Mckennah
A Scottish feminine name derived from the Gaelic "Cionaith," meaning "born of fire."
Name Census estimates that about 519 living Americans carry the first name Mckennah. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Mckennah today is around 20 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Mckennah births was 1999 (31 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Mckennah. 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
519
~ 1 in 660,413 Americans
Peak year
1999
31 babies that year
Average age
20
years old
2024 SSA rank
#14,615
Tracked since 1992
Popularity
Mckennah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Mckennah from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 237 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Mckennah 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 Mckennah during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Mckennahs live
Origin
Meaning and history of Mckennah
The name Mckennah is a relatively modern name that has its origins in the English language. It is a combination of the prefix "Mc" which is derived from the Scottish Gaelic "Mac" meaning "son of", and the name "Kennah" which is a variant spelling of the Irish name "Kenna".
The name Kenna itself is thought to have its roots in the Irish Gaelic word "cionnath" which means "ancient" or "old". It is possible that the name Kenna was originally used to refer to someone who was wise or venerable, or perhaps someone who was born into an ancient or established family lineage.
While the name Mckennah is a relatively modern construction, the use of the prefix "Mc" or "Mac" to denote patronymic surnames has a long history in Scottish and Irish culture, dating back to the Middle Ages and even earlier. This naming convention was particularly prevalent among the Gaelic-speaking populations of Scotland and Ireland.
In terms of historical references, the name Mckennah itself does not appear to be found in any ancient texts or religious scriptures. However, the name Kenna and its variants have been recorded in various historical documents and records from Ireland and Scotland over the centuries.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Kenna can be found in the Annals of Ulster, a chronicle of medieval Irish history, where a person named "Cennétig mac Lorcáin" is mentioned in an entry from the year 1007 AD. While this is not an exact match for Mckennah, it does demonstrate the antiquity of the name Kenna in Irish and Celtic tradition.
Throughout history, there have been a number of notable individuals who have borne the name Kenna or similar variants. Here are five examples:
1. Kenna MacKenna (1809-1888), an Irish-born American politician who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from California.
2. Kenna García (born 1972), a Mexican actress and singer known for her roles in telenovelas and her work as a voice actress.
3. Kenna (musician) (born 1978), an American singer-songwriter and instrumentalist whose full name is Kenna Zemedkun.
4. Kenna James (born 1963), an American actress and model who has appeared in various television shows and films.
5. Kenna MacKinnon (born 1988), a Scottish professional golfer who has competed on the Ladies European Tour.
While the name Mckennah itself is a relatively modern construction, it draws upon a rich heritage of Celtic and Gaelic naming traditions, with roots that can be traced back to medieval Ireland and Scotland. Despite its recent popularity, the name carries with it a sense of antiquity and connection to the ancient cultures of the British Isles.
People
Mckennah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Mckennah 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
Mckennah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Mckennah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 519 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Mckennah 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 660,413 US residents.
Is Mckennah a common name?
We classify Mckennah as "Very Rare". It ranks above 84.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 527 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Mckennah most popular?
The single biggest year for Mckennah was 1999, when 31 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Mckennah is about 20 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Mckennah a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Mckennah 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.
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.