Kennedy (given name)


Kennedy is a unisex given name in the English language. The name is an Anglicised form of a masculine given name in the Irish language.

Etymology

The given name Kennedy is an anglicisation of Cinnéidigh, a masculine given name in the Irish language. This Irish name is composed of two elements: the first, ceann "head"; the second, éidigh "ugly". According to Patrick Woulfe, who wrote in the early 19th century, Kennedy is an anglicised form the Irish Cinnéididh and Cinnéidigh. Woulfe derived these Irish names from two elements: the first, ceann, meaning "a head"; the second, éide, meaning "armour"; hence the name can be thought to mean "helmet-headed".

Other languages

As a masculine given name, Kennedy can be rendered into Irish as Cinnéididh and Cinnéidigh, and into Latin as Kinnedius. The masculine Kennedy can be rendered into Scottish Gaelic as Uarraig. This name is etymologically unrelated to the English Kennedy and Irish Cinnéidigh. Uarraig is composed of two Scottish Gaelic elements: the first, uall, means "pride"; and the second, garg, means "fierce". This Scottish Gaelic name is Anglicised Kennedy possibly because it was commonly borne by various families who bore the surname Kennedy. One such family, according tradition dating from the 18th century, descended from a man who bore a form of this name, and settled in Lochaber in the 16th century.

Popularity and use

The name Kennedy has been in occasional use as a given name for both men and women since the 1800s throughout the Anglosphere. The name came into greater use during the 1960s in honor of John F. Kennedy, the 35th President of the United States, who was assassinated in 1963, and his brother Robert F. Kennedy, who was assassinated in 1968. As a name for girls, Kennedy was popularized by the fame of MTV video jockey Lisa Kennedy Montgomery. Spelling variants such as Kennedi and Kenadee also became popular for girls.
In the United States of America, Kennedy, has been among the top 1,000 names recorded in Social Security card applications, in the last 10 years, for both baby boys and girls. As a masculine name, Kennedy first appeared amongst the top 1,000 names in 1960, but fell out of the top 1,000 after 1968. The name did not re-enter the top 1,000 until 1994, where it stayed until 2005. At its height, Kennedy was ranked the 516th most popular masculine baby name in 1964. As a feminine name, Kennedy first appeared among the top 1,000 names in 1994 and among the 100 most popular names for American girls since 2011. In 1990, the United States Census Bureau undertook a study of the 1990 United States census, and released a sample of data concerning the most popular names. According to this sample of 6.3 million people, Kennedy did not even appear among the 4,275 feminine names, or the 1,219 masculine names.

Notable men

Notable women