2000
#11,184
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,601
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.96
Rare Last name
Kennelly
Anglicized form of the Irish surname Ó Cinnfhaolaidh, meaning "descendant of Cennfhaolaidh," a personal name of uncertain etymology.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 2,784 Americans carry the last name Kennelly. That puts it at #12,232 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.81 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 123,116 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Kennelly surname. You will find the Census Bureau frequency data, a multi-census history view, an ancestry and ethnicity breakdown based on self-reported demographics, the name's meaning and origin where available, and answers to the most common questions people ask about this surname.
For British records, Name Census UK has a British surname profile for Kennelly with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
2.8K
1 in 123,116
Census rank
#12,232
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.8
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
2.4K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 2,428 bearers of the surname Kennelly in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.81 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 12232nd position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Kennelly, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.3%) and Two or More Races (3.2%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Kennelly
The surname Kennelly is of Irish origin, deriving from the Gaelic name Ó Cionnaoithe, which means "descendant of Cionaoth." Cionaoth was a personal name derived from the Old Irish words "cion" meaning "head" and "aith" meaning "prayer." The name likely originated in the 10th or 11th century in County Cork, Ireland.
The earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the Annals of Inisfallen, a chronicle of medieval Irish history written by monks in the 12th century. The name appears in various spellings, such as O'Kinealy, O'Kennealy, and O'Kinnelly, throughout medieval Irish records and manuscripts.
In the late 16th century, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, the English administration in Ireland attempted to standardize the spelling of Irish surnames to make them more anglicized. This led to the emergence of the Kennelly spelling, which became more prevalent in the 17th and 18th centuries.
Notable individuals with the Kennelly surname include:
1. Patrick Kennelly (1779-1864), an Irish nationalist and member of the United Irishmen, a revolutionary republican movement in the late 18th century.
2. Arthur Edwin Kennelly (1861-1939), an American electrical engineer and physicist who made significant contributions to the development of alternating current (AC) theory and the understanding of electromagnetic waves.
3. Brendan Kennelly (1936-2021), an Irish poet, novelist, and cultural commentator, widely regarded as one of the most important voices in contemporary Irish literature.
4. Michael Kennelly (born 1990), an Australian rules footballer who played for the Brisbane Lions and Geelong Cats in the Australian Football League (AFL).
5. Nicola Kennelly (born 1986), an English actress best known for her roles in television series such as Silent Witness and Derry Girls.
The Kennelly surname has also been associated with various place names in Ireland, such as Killakennelly (derived from the Irish "Cill a' Chionaoithe," meaning "church of the descendant of Cionaoth") and Ballyknockane (from "Baile Uí Chionnaoithe," meaning "town of the descendant of Cionaoth").
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kennelly
Among Census respondents with the surname Kennelly, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.3%) and Two or More Races (3.2%).
The bar chart below shows how Kennelly bearers 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 surname, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown for every Census year so the breakdown stays comparable over time. When the source file also includes raw headcounts, Name Census shows those alongside the percentages in the legend.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A person's surname does not determine their race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the Kennelly surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White92.0% · 2,233
- Hispanic or Latino3.3% · 80
- Two or more races3.2% · 78
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.8% · 19
- Black or African American0.6% · 14
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 4
Timeline
Historical Census data for Kennelly
Kennelly appears in 3 published Census surname files: 2000, 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2010
#9,666
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 3,358
+757 bearers (+29.1%)
Per 100,000 1.14
Rank movement Up 1,518 places
2020
#12,232
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,428
-930 bearers (-27.7%)
Per 100,000 0.81
Rank movement Down 2,566 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #11,184 | 2,601 | 0.96 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #9,666 | 3,358 | 1.14 | +757 bearers (+29.1%) | Up 1,518 places |
| 2020 | #12,232 | 2,428 | 0.81 | -930 bearers (-27.7%) | Down 2,566 places |
For 2020, the Census Bureau published race and Hispanic-origin columns as counts rather than percentages. Name Census converts those counts back into shares so the ancestry section stays comparable with the older surname files.
Year on year
2010 vs 2020 Census
How has the Kennelly surname changed between Census years? The chart shows bearer count side by side, and the table compares rank, count, and frequency.
Census year comparison
20102020
| Metric | 2010 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #9,666 | #12,232 | -26.5% |
| Count | 3,358 | 2,428 | -27.7% |
| Per 100K | 1.14 | 0.81 | -28.7% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Kennelly bearers went from 3,358 to 2,428 (-27.7% change). The surname moved down 2,566 positions in the national ranking, going from #9,666 to #12,232.
FAQ
Kennelly surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Kennelly?
Name Census estimates that about 2,784 living Americans carry the surname Kennelly. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 123,116 residents.
How common is Kennelly?
Kennelly ranks #12,232 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.81 per 100,000 residents, which is about 1 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 2,428 people with the surname Kennelly. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (2,784), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.81 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.81 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 1 of them to have the surname Kennelly.
Has Kennelly become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Kennelly went from 3,358 recorded bearers to 2,428. That is a decrease of 930 (-27.7%). In the national ranking it fell from #9,666 to #12,232.
What does the Census say about the background of Kennelly?
Among Census respondents with the surname Kennelly, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.3%) and Two or More Races (3.2%). These figures come from the 2020 Census Bureau surname tables, based on how respondents described their own race and ethnicity.
Which group reports this surname most often?
White is the largest self-reported group for the surname Kennelly in the 2020 Census, accounting for 92.0% (2,233 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Kennelly appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (92.0%), Hispanic (3.3%), Two or More Races (3.2%). For 2020, the source file also published raw headcounts for each group, which is why this page can show both percentages and counts in the ancestry section.
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Yes. This page is using the latest surname file currently loaded on Name Census, which is 2020. The historical section above also keeps any older Census surname entries we have for Kennelly (2000, 2010, 2020).
Does the Census include every surname?
No. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames that appeared at least 100 times in a given decennial Census. That means very rare surnames are excluded entirely, and a surname can appear in one Census release but disappear from a later one if it falls below the reporting threshold.
Why don't the ancestry percentages always add up to exactly 100%?
There are two main reasons: rounding and suppression. The Census Bureau rounds published values, and it may suppress very small cells to protect privacy. For 2020, the Bureau also published raw group counts rather than direct percentages, so Name Census converts those counts back into shares for comparability across census years.
What does Kennelly mean?
Anglicized form of the Irish surname Ó Cinnfhaolaidh, meaning "descendant of Cennfhaolaidh," a personal name of uncertain etymology. The fuller origin note on this page goes into more detail.
Where does the surname data come from?
All surname statistics on Name Census are drawn from the US Census Bureau's decennial surname frequency tables. These files list every surname that appeared 100 or more times in the 2020 Census, along with a count, a per-100,000 rate, and a self-reported demographic breakdown. You can read the full explanation on our methodology page.
How does Name Census estimate living bearers?
For surnames, Name Census does not age cohorts the way it does for first names. Instead, it takes the Census Bureau's published frequency for Kennelly (0.81 per 100,000) and applies that rate to the current U.S. resident population to estimate how many living Americans have the surname today.
How many people have the surname Kennelly?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.