Kennedy
An old Celtic surname traditionally linked to an Irish personal name and, in Scotland, to the powerful Kennedy clan of Carrick.
The #146 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 1,746 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The surname is usually explained from Gaelic personal-name forms written by older scholars as O'Ceannfada or O'Cinnidh, though the exact medieval spelling and interpretation are not fully settled. In broad terms, it is treated as a name built on a Gaelic personal name meaning something like a descendant of a named ancestor, with early writers sometimes glossing the elements as referring to a "head" or a clan leader. Older Scottish references also linked Kennedy with the Carrick family in Ayrshire, whose chiefs later became the Earls of Cassilis.
History
Kennedy is strongly associated with Ireland and with the great Kennedy house of Carrick in southwest Scotland. Lower recorded the tradition that the Scottish family had earlier been known as Carrick before adopting Kennedy in the 14th century, and later sources continued to connect the name with Gaelic clan history. The surname spread widely in the English-speaking world, and it is now common far beyond its original Gaelic strongholds.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The Kennedy chiefs of Dunure later became the Earls of Cassilis, a title now associated with the Marquess of Ailsa.
From the historical record
“KENNAY. See Kenny. KENNEDY. Celtic. Cean-7ia-tighe, meaning, it is said, the head of a sept or clan. The family descend from the ancient earls of Carrick in Ayrshire, and seem to have changed their name from Carrick to Kennedy in the XIV. cent. The chief was K. of Dunure, afterwards Earl of Cassilis (now Marquis of…”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom