Kenny
Usually an Irish surname from the Gaelic name Coinneach or Canice, later used in several related spellings and branches.
The #2,077 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 17,714 Americans shares it.
Etymology
In Irish usage, Kenny is commonly linked to the Gaelic personal name Coinneach, usually explained as meaning “handsome” or “comely,” and also associated with Canice. The surname can therefore be understood as originally patronymic, from an ancestor bearing that given name. In some English records, however, Lower also notes a possible separate origin from an Old English personal name, Cynric, so the name is not always purely Irish in every family line.
History
The name is well represented in Ireland and appears in anglicized forms such as Mac Kenny and Mac Kenna, showing its connection with Gaelic naming patterns. Some families preserved the shorter Kenny form, while others retained the prefix Mac-, especially in Irish and Scottish records. Because the same spelling can arise from more than one source, individual family history matters a great deal for this surname.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Nineteenth-century surname writers did not fully agree on Kenny’s origin: some favored an Irish Gaelic derivation, while Lower allowed an Old English explanation for at least some bearers.
From the historical record
“Surrey, Kent, and Berkshire. KENNY. Ferguson tliinks that this corresponds with the Old Friesic licmg, a king. But see Kenney. KENRICK. The family of Kenrick of Nautclwyd Woore, co. Denbigh, claim from David Kenrick who fought under the Black Prince at Creci and Poictiers. The name is clearly the A- Sax. baptismal…”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom