Mckenzi
A feminine name of Scottish origin meaning "born of the fair one".
Name Census estimates that about 1,978 living Americans carry the first name Mckenzi. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Mckenzi today is around 22 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Mckenzi births was 1996 (95 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Mckenzi. 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
2.0K
~ 1 in 173,283 Americans
Peak year
1996
95 babies that year
Average age
22
years old
2024 SSA rank
#12,956
Tracked since 1978
Popularity
Mckenzi: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Mckenzi from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 738 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
Mckenzi 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 Mckenzi during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Mckenzis live
The SSA's state-level files cover 17 states and territories. Texas, Ohio, Georgia recorded the most babies named Mckenzi, while Washington, Oregon, Missouri recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 27 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Mckenzi
The name Mckenzi originated from the Scottish Highlands in the late 12th century. It is derived from the Gaelic words "mac" meaning "son" and "enze" which referred to a type of evergreen shrub or tree. The name was initially given to children born in areas where these particular plants grew abundantly.
In the early 13th century, the name appeared in clan records of the Mackenzie family, one of the most powerful and influential clans in the Scottish Highlands. The first recorded instance of the name was in 1263 when a man named Mckenzi mac Coningh was mentioned as a respected warrior and leader in the clan.
During the Scottish Wars of Independence in the late 13th and early 14th centuries, several men with the name Mckenzi fought alongside William Wallace and Robert the Bruce against the English forces. One of the most notable was Mckenzi of Glenurquhart, who bravely led a charge against the English at the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314.
In the 16th century, a renowned Scottish poet and writer named Mckenzi Douglas was born in 1513. He was known for his works praising the beauty of the Scottish Highlands and its people. Another famous bearer of the name was Sir Mckenzi Campbell, born in 1637, who served as a military commander and played a crucial role in the Jacobite risings.
As the name spread beyond Scotland, it gained popularity in other parts of the British Isles and eventually in North America. One of the earliest recorded instances in America was Mckenzi Stevenson, born in 1723 in Virginia, who later became a prominent landowner and politician in the colony.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Mckenzi. These include Mckenzi Mckenzie, a Scottish philosopher and educator born in 1795; Mckenzi Cochrane, a British naval officer and radical politician born in 1775; Mckenzi King, an American baseball player born in 1888; and Mckenzi Phillips, a Canadian actress and singer born in 1957.
People
Mckenzi + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Mckenzi 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
Mckenzi: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Mckenzi?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,978 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Mckenzi 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 173,283 US residents.
Is Mckenzi a common name?
We classify Mckenzi as "Rare". It ranks above 93.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,017 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Mckenzi most popular?
The single biggest year for Mckenzi was 1996, when 95 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Mckenzi is about 22 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Mckenzi a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Mckenzi 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.