Kenworthy
A northern English surname probably meaning “Ken’s farm or settlement,” though the exact first element is uncertain.
The #9,932 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 95,057 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Kenworthy is generally explained as a place-name surname built from an uncertain first element, often taken as a personal name such as Ken, plus Old English worthig, meaning an enclosed homestead, farm, or settlement. In older spelling habits, the ending could appear as worth or worthy, which is why related forms like Kenworth and Kenworthy are treated together. The first element is not securely identified, so the name is best understood as a locational surname rather than a fully certain one-word derivation.
History
The surname is especially associated with northern England, particularly Yorkshire, where it is recorded in historical surname listings. Nineteenth-century writers grouped it with names such as Langworthy and Whitworth as examples of the shift between worth and worthy in place-names and surnames. It is now present in the English-speaking world more widely, including the United States.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Bardsley used Kenworthy as one of his standard examples when discussing how older place-name endings could appear as either -worth or -worthy.
From the historical record
“Snelgrove, Hargreaves. Cf. Clough and Clow or Clowe, now as surname Clowes: We find the same change in enough and enow. Cf. also worth and worthy, as in Kenworthy, Whitworth, Langworthy, and Langworth, Cf. also Craft and Croft, as in the occupative Crafler and Crofter, and the local Calcrafl and Bancroft, &c. Cf.…”
— A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames, with special American instances