Kenny
Kenny is a surname, a given name, and a diminutive of several different given names.
In Ireland, the surname is an Anglicisation of the Irish Ó Cionnaith, also spelt Ó Cionnaoith and Ó Cionaodha, meaning "descendant of Cionnaith". It was once popular in the 16th-century in Leinster, Munster, parts of Connacht and in County Tyrone in Ulster, and was Anglicised as O'Kenna, O'Kenny, O'Kinney, Kenna, Kenney, Kenny, and Kinney amongst other variations.
One bearer of the name was Cainnech of Aghaboe, better known in English as Saint Canice - a sixth-century Irish priest and missionary from near Dungiven, after whom the city and county of Kilkenny is also named. The Irish form Cill Chainnigh means "Church of Canice".
It is thought that the Ó Cionnaith sept was part of the Uí Maine kingdom, based in Connacht. Within this area, the name is associated traditionally with counties Galway and Roscommon.
Kenny is ranked at number 76 in the list of the most common surnames in Ireland. Other spellings include O'Kenny, Kenney, Kennie, Kinnie and Kinny.
The given name, Kenny, is most often used as a short form of the name Kenneth and a diminutive form of Ken.
Given name
- Cainnech of Aghaboe, also known as Saint Kenny, Irish saint, abbot, monastic founder, priest and missionary
- Kenny Adeleke, Nigerian basketball player
- Kenny Anderson , retired basketball player
- Kenny Athiu, association footballer
- Kenny Baker , English actor, best known to portray R2-D2 in the Star Wars franchise.
- Kenny Ball, English jazz musician
- Kenny Bee, Hong Kong singer, musician and actor
- Kenny Bell, American football player
- Kenny Bernstein, NHRA driver
- Kenny Black, Scottish footballer
- Kenny Booker, American basketball player
- Kenny Bräck, former Swedish IndyCar driver
- Kenny Chesney, American country music singer, songwriter and record producer
- Kenny Chiu, Canadian politician
- Kenny Clarke, American jazz drummer and bandleader
- Kenny Dalglish, Scottish soccer player and manager
- Kenny Delmar, American actor and voice artist
- Kenny Dillingham, American football coach
- Kenny Dykstra, American professional wrestler
- Kenny Dyson, American football player
- Kenny Easley, American football player
- Kenny Easterday, American man with sacral agenesis, known as "Man with half a body"
- Kenny Edwards , New Zealand Rugby League player
- Kenny Everett, English disc-jockey and comedian
- Kenny Fields, American basketball player
- Kenny Golladay, American football player
- Kenny G, American saxophonist
- Kenny Håkansson, Swedish musician
- Kenny Heitz, American basketball player
- Kenny Hotz, Canadian filmmaker and star of Kenny vs. Spenny
- Kenny Hughes, actor, dancer, director and writer
- Kenny Irwin Jr., former NASCAR driver
- Kenny Jackett, English football player and manager
- Kenny W. James, American voice actor
- Kenny Kadji, Cameroonian basketball player in the Israeli Basketball Premier League
- Kenny Kima Beyissa, Central African footballer
- Kenny Koplove, American baseball player
- Kenny Lawler, American football player
- Kenny Layne, American professional wrestler known also by ring-name Kenny King
- Kenny Lofton, baseball outfielder
- Kenny Loggins, American singer and songwriter
- Kenny Lowe, English football manager
- Kenny Mayne, American sports journalist
- Kenny McIntosh, American football player
- Kenny Middlemiss, Scottish badminton player
- Kenny Miller, Scottish footballer
- Kenny Minchey, American football player
- Kenny Moore, American athlete
- Kenny Moore II, American football player
- Kenny O'Dell, American country music singer and songwriter
- Kenny Okoro, American football player
- Kenny Omega, ring name of Canadian-born professional wrestler Tyson Smith
- Kenny Ortega, film director and producer
- Kenny Perry, American professional golfer
- Kenny Pickett, American football player
- Kenny Price, American country music singer-songwriter
- Kenny Roberts, former motorcycle racer
- Kenny Robinson, multiple people
- Kenny Rogers, American country music singer-songwriter, guitarist and record producer
- Kenny Rogers , American baseball player
- Kenny Rosenberg, American baseball pitcher for the Los Angeles Angels
- Kenny Saief, American-Israeli professional soccer player
- Kenny Sebastian, Indian comedian
- Kenny Stucker, American football player
- Kenny Taylor, basketball player for the Akita Northern Happinets of Japan
- Kenny Tran, a professional Vietnamese American poker player
- Kenny Vaccaro, American football player
- Kenny Wallace, American NASCAR driver
- Kenny Washington, American basketball player and coach
- Kenny Willekes, American football player
- Kenny Wooten, American basketball player
- Kenny Yeboah, American football player
- Kenny Young , American football player
Surname
- Anthony Kenny, English philosopher
- Arturo Kenny, Argentine polo player
- Bernard Kenny, American politician
- Bill Kenny , Australian rules footballer
- Bill Kenny, played at least one season in the American Soccer League
- Bill Kenny , African-American singer with The Ink Spots
- Brett Kenny, Australian rugby league footballer
- Brian Kenny
- Carlos Kenny, Argentine field hockey player
- Charles Kenny, American composer and lyricist
- Charles Kenny , English cricketer
- Cindy Kenny-Gilday, Sahtu environmentalist and activist for Indigenous rights in Canada
- Clare Kenny, British-Swiss artist
- David Kenny
- Enda Kenny, Irish politician, leader of Fine Gael and Taoiseach
- Enda Kenny, Irish-born Australian folksinger and songwriter
- Elizabeth Kenny, unaccredited Australian nurse whose controversial treatment of polio victims became the foundation of physical therapy
- Eoghan Kenny, Irish politician
- Gerard Kenny, British-based American composer, pianist and singer
- Henry Kenny, Irish politician and Gaelic footballer
- Henry Kenny
- Henry Edward Kenny, British soldier awarded the Victoria Cross
- J. E. Kenny, Irish politician
- James C. Kenny, former US ambassador to Ireland
- Jason Kenny, English cyclist
- Jon Kenny, Irish comedian and actor
- Julie Kenny, English businesswoman
- Laura Kenny, British track and road cyclist
- Lawrence Kenny, Catholic priest and exorcist
- Marc Kenny, former Irish footballer
- Matthew Joseph Kenny, Irish politician from Clare
- Maurice Kenny, Mohawk poet
- Mecury Kenny, Zimbabwean cricketer
- Michael Kenny, includes some Michaels better known as Mick or Mike
- Mick Kenny
- Mike Kenny, British playwright
- Nick Kenny , US columnist, lyricist and poet
- Nick Kenny, Australian rugby league player
- Paddy Kenny, British-born Irish footballer
- Paddy Kenny, Irish hurler
- Pat Kenny, Irish broadcaster
- Seán Kenny , Irish Labour Party politician
- Sean Kenny, Irish film, theatre and exhibition designer
- Seán Kenny, Irish hurler
- Stephen Kenny, Irish football manager
- Tom Kenny, American voice actor and comedian best known as the voice of SpongeBob SquarePants
- Tom Kenny, Irish hurler
- William Kenny
Fictional characters
- Kenny McCormick, a character from the TV series South Park
- Kenny, in the anime and manga series Beyblade
- Kenny, in the 1970s science fiction series The Tomorrow People
- Kenny Ackerman, a character from Attack on Titan
- Kenny Chang, in the British web series Corner Shop Show.
- Kenny Powers, the protagonist of the HBO series Eastbound and Down
- Kenny Rossmore, a character in the 2013 American crime comedy movie We're the Millers
- Kenny Smyth, a corporate bathroom plumber in the 2006 film Kenny
- Kenny Wangler, an African-American drug addict in the HBO drama Oz
- Kenny, in the movie Let Me In
- Kenny, in the episodic video game series The Walking Dead: Season One
- Kenny the Shark, from Kenny the Shark
- Kenny, from Stitch!
- Kenny, one of the Galtian aliens in the video game ''High on Life''