Mckenzie
Scottish surname meaning "burn of the bright stream".
Name Census estimates that about 65,254 living Americans carry the first name Mckenzie. It sits at #493 in the overall ranking, outside the top 50 but still well-represented. It is a predominantly female name (96.6% of registrations). The average person named Mckenzie today is around 21 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Mckenzie births was 2000 (2,586 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Mckenzie. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Mckenzie with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Mckenzie started out as a boys' name but over the decades crossed over and is now given to girls far more often.
- • Although Mckenzie is used almost entirely for girls, the SSA data does show 2,255 boys registered with the name since 1880.
People living today
65K
~ 1 in 5,253 Americans
Peak year
2000
2,586 babies that year
Average age
21
years old
2024 SSA rank
#493
Tracked since 1917
Census
Mckenzie in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 56,891 people with the first name Mckenzie, which placed it at #826 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
#826
National first-name rank
People counted
57K
56,891 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
18.8
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
74.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Mckenzie
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Mckenzie is White at 74.6%. The next largest groups are Black (12.3%) and Hispanic (6.0%). 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 Mckenzie 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 Mckenzie at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White74.6% · 42,421
- Black or African American12.3% · 7,016
- Hispanic or Latino6.0% · 3,404
- Two or more races5.4% · 3,060
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 511
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.8% · 479
Gender
Gender distribution for Mckenzie
Mckenzie leans heavily female at 96.6% of total registrations, but 2,255 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Mckenzie as a male name
- Ranked #6,676 in 2024
- 13 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1996 (120 births)
Mckenzie as a female name
- Ranked #493 in 2024
- 620 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2000 (2,528 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Mckenzie leans strongly female. 55,094 people counted with this name were female (96.8%), compared with 1,795 male bearers (3.2%).
Popularity
Mckenzie: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Mckenzie from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 22,943 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
Mckenzie 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 Mckenzie during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Mckenzies live
The SSA's state-level files cover 51 states and territories. Texas, California, Georgia recorded the most babies named Mckenzie, while Vermont, Hawaii, Rhode Island recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 1,243 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Mckenzie
The name Mckenzie has its origins in the Scottish Gaelic language and can be traced back to the Middle Ages. It derives from the Gaelic words "mac" meaning "son" and "cuinn" meaning "fair" or "bright." The name was initially a patronymic surname, referring to a son of someone named Cuinn.
In the 12th century, the name appeared in the form of "Makennedy" in Scotland. Over time, it evolved into various spellings such as Mckennedy, Makkenzy, and eventually, Mckenzie. The name was particularly prevalent among Scottish clans, especially the Clan Mackenzie, which had a significant presence in the Scottish Highlands.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Mckenzie can be found in the 14th century, when Kenneth Mckenzie (c. 1350-1418) was a prominent Scottish nobleman and chief of the Clan Mackenzie. He played a crucial role in the Battle of Harlaw in 1411, where he led his clan against the forces of Lord Donald of the Isles.
Another notable bearer of the name was Sir George Mckenzie (1636-1691), a Scottish lawyer, writer, and advocate. He served as Lord Advocate of Scotland and was a prominent figure in the legal and political spheres of his time.
In the realm of literature, Mckenzie Porter (1853-1920) was an American novelist and short story writer known for her works depicting life in the American South during the late 19th century.
The name Mckenzie also gained recognition in the field of sports. Mckenzie Milton (born 1997) is an American football quarterback who played for the University of Central Florida and was drafted by the St. Louis Battlehawks in the 2020 XFL Draft.
Another notable figure was Mckenzie Wark (born 1961), an Australian scholar, writer, and theorist known for his work in media studies, critical theory, and cultural studies.
While the name Mckenzie has Scottish roots, it has gained popularity worldwide and is now used across various cultures and regions. However, it remains closely associated with its Scottish heritage and the rich history of the Clan Mackenzie.
People
Mckenzie + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Mckenzie 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
Mckenzie: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Mckenzie?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 65,254 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Mckenzie 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 5,253 US residents.
Is Mckenzie a common name?
We classify Mckenzie as "Uncommon". It ranks above 99.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 66,505 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Mckenzie most popular?
The single biggest year for Mckenzie was 2000, when 2,586 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Mckenzie is about 21 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Mckenzie in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 56,891 people with the name Mckenzie, or 18.84 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #826 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 Mckenzie 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 Mckenzie?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Mckenzie leans strongly female. 55,094 people counted with this name were female (96.8%), compared with 1,795 male bearers (3.2%). 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 Mckenzie?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Mckenzie is White at 74.6%. The next largest groups are Black (12.3%) and Hispanic (6.0%). 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 Mckenzie most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Mckenzie in the 2020 Census, accounting for 74.6% (42,421 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 Mckenzie in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Mckenzie a female name?
Yes, 96.6% of people registered as Mckenzie 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 Mckenzie still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Mckenzie 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 Mckenzie 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 share the name Mckenzie?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.