Kinney
An Irish surname most often taken as a form of Kenny, ultimately from Gaelic names meaning “kindred” or linked to the name Cionnaith.
The #1,113 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 9,783 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The surname Kinney is generally treated as an Anglicized Irish form related to Kenny and MacKenna, with the Gaelic base often given as Cionnaith or a related name. Some older writers also connected it with Gaelic cine, meaning “kindred,” but that explanation is less secure and likely reflects nineteenth-century speculation. In practice, Kinney is best understood as an Irish surname built from a Gaelic personal name rather than from an English occupational word.
History
The name is found in Irish surname traditions and appears in older English-language surname dictionaries in forms such as Kenney, Kenna, and Mac Kinney. It became established in Ireland and later spread widely through emigration, especially to North America. In the United States, Kinney is now the standard spelling for many bearers, though related forms remain common.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Older surname books sometimes grouped Kinney with a cluster of similar Irish names, which is why it can appear beside Kenny, Kenna, and MacKenna in historical indexes.
From the historical record
“Ceann, head, and eir, an abbreviation of fear, a man. KINNEY. Gaelic, Cine, kindred, a clan, a tribe. Keny and Cany, seeing, knowing; Welsh, cenio, to see. KINSLEY. (Gaelic.) From Ceannsallach, authoritative, com- manding, ruling. Walker, in his Historical Memoirs of the Irish Bards, relates the following story…”
— An Etymological Dictionary of Family and Christian Names