Kenneth

Anglicized form of two Goidelic names, Old Irish Cináed, the name of Scottish kings derived from Pictish *ᚉᚔᚅᚔᚑᚇ (Ciniod), and the saint's name Cainnech (literally “handsome”) (modern Scottish Gaelic Coinneach), as in the surname Mackenzie.

• IPA^(key): /ˈkɛn.əθ/
• Rhymes: -ɛnəθ

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Kenneth (countable and uncountable, plural Kenneths)

1. A male given name from Scottish Gaelic, originally used in Scotland, popular in all English-speaking countries in the 20th century.
   • 1825, Sir Walter Scott, chapter III, in The Talisman:

     Know, however, that among the soldiers of the Cross I am called Kenneth - Kenneth of the Couching Leopard; at home I have other titles, but they would sound harsh in an Eastern ear.

   • 1998 Barbara Vine ( Ruth Rendell ): The Chimney Sweeper's Boy. →ISBN page 166:

     "The other one, his name was Kenneth, was born in February nineteen twenty-one."

     "All these Kens," she said.

     "As you say. It must have been the sexy name. These days Kens are all Chinese cooks. - - -

2. A surname from Scottish Gaelic.

• Ken
• Kenny

• According to the 2010 United States Census, Kenneth is the 35582^nd most common surname in the United States, belonging to 632 individuals. Kenneth is most common among White (55.7%), Black/African American (17.56%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (14.72%) individuals.

• Patrick Hanks and Flavia Hodges: A Concise Dictionary of First Names. Oxford University Press 2001

• Hanks, Patrick, editor (2003), “Kenneth”, in Dictionary of American Family Names, volume 2, New York City: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 293.

From English Kenneth, from Scottish Gaelic.

Kenneth

1. a male given name from English [in turn from the Celtic languages]

For quotations using this term, see Citations:Kenneth.

From English Kenneth at the end of the 19th century.

Kenneth

1. a male given name

• Ken, Kent

• Danskernes Navne, based on CPR data: 16 673 males with the given name Kenneth have been registered in Denmark between about 1890 (=the population alive in 1967) and January 2005, with the frequency peak in the 1970s. Accessed on 19 June 2011.

From English Kenneth in c. 1900.

Kenneth

1. a male given name

• Ken, Kent

• Kristoffer Kruken - Ola Stemshaug: Norsk personnamnleksikon, Det Norske Samlaget, Oslo 1995, →ISBN
• Statistisk sentralbyrå, Namnestatistikk: 9 392 males with the given name Kenneth living in Norway on January 1st 2011, with the frequency peak in the 1980s. Accessed on 19 May, 2011.

• Kennet

From English Kenneth. First recorded as a given name in Sweden in 1898.

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Kenneth c (genitive Kenneths)

1. a male given name borrowed from English

• Kenny, Kent, Kenth

• Roland Otterbjörk: Svenska förnamn, Almqvist & Wiksell 1996, →ISBN
• Statistiska centralbyrån and Sture Allén, Staffan Wåhlin, Förnamnsboken, Norstedts 1995, →ISBN: 27 379 males with the given name Kenneth living in Sweden on December 31st, 2010, with the frequency peak in the 1950s. Accessed on 19 June 2011.