Fun Facts About the Name Mackenna
- More than 3 thousand babies named Mackenna: U.S. records list 3,669 babies given the name Mackenna from 1880 through 2025. Even 8 boys received the name Mackenna - about 1 boy for every 458 girls.
What Does the Name Mackenna Mean?
Mackenna is a spelling variant of the Irish surname and given name McKenna. The surname is an Anglicized form of Irish Gaelic Mac Cionaoith, a patronymic meaning "son of Cionaoith." Cionaoith is an old Gaelic personal name whose literal sense is not fully settled. It is usually broken into two elements. The second is commonly linked to Aodh, a personal name meaning "fire." The first is variously explained as cion, "love, affection," or as cionn, "head." One common interpretation is therefore "beloved of Aodh" or "Aodh's beloved"; another is closer to "head of fire" or "fiery head." Because the older name is not transparent, the precise meaning remains uncertain. The similar-looking Gaelic name Cinaed, which lies behind the English name Kenneth, has a different derivation and is not the source of Mackenna.
Mackenna Name History & Origins
The name comes from an Irish surname, not from an older English given-name tradition. Mac Cionaoith began as a patronymic that identified a man as the son of a bearer of the personal name Cionaoith. In Gaelic Ireland, such hereditary surnames became fixed among leading families. The McKennas were a powerful clan in Ulster; they were chiefs of Truagh, a district in what is now County Monaghan, and the surname is also associated with County Tyrone. Over time the name was Anglicized in several spellings, including McKenna and Mackenna. The Mac- form in Mackenna is the fuller Gaelic patronymic prefix, "son," rather than the shortened Mc- spelling.
As a first name, Mackenna is an English-language use of the surname. It belongs to the broad practice of turning surnames into given names, and in English-speaking countries it is used mainly for girls. The underlying Irish name itself is masculine in form: Mac Cionaoith literally means "son of Cionaoith." The spelling with Mac- is a variant of the more common McKenna.
How Popular is the Name Mackenna?
Mackenna has historically been an exceptionally rare given name in the United States, remaining well outside the national mainstream. It saw its highest recorded annual births in 2008. Its best rank was #1,322 in 2008.
U.S. name popularity from 1880-2025, based on SSA data. Rank shows how the name compares with other names - lower numbers mean greater popularity. Births shows how many babies received the name each year.
| Year | Rank | Births | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #3,233 | 49 | 0.0030% |
| 2024 | #2,990 | 55 | 0.0034% |
| 2023 | #2,477 | 72 | 0.0045% |
| 2022 | #2,508 | 72 | 0.0044% |
| 2021 | #2,201 | 85 | 0.0052% |
| 2020 | #2,431 | 72 | 0.0045% |
| 2019 | #2,052 | 93 | 0.0055% |
| 2018 | #2,141 | 89 | 0.0052% |
| 2017 | #2,394 | 76 | 0.0044% |
| 2016 | #1,878 | 109 | 0.0062% |
| 2015 | #1,944 | 104 | 0.0058% |
| 2014 | #2,021 | 98 | 0.0055% |
| 2013 | #1,653 | 129 | 0.0074% |
| 2012 | #1,515 | 147 | 0.0083% |
| 2011 | #1,508 | 148 | 0.0084% |
| 2010 | #1,333 | 177 | 0.0100% |
| 2009 | #1,588 | 142 | 0.0077% |
| 2008 | #1,322 | 187 | 0.0099% |
| 2007 | #1,421 | 167 | 0.0087% |
| 2006 | #1,352 | 172 | 0.0090% |
| 2005 | #1,410 | 152 | 0.0082% |
| 2004 | #1,512 | 134 | 0.0073% |
| 2003 | #1,449 | 136 | 0.0074% |
| 2002 | #1,407 | 137 | 0.0076% |
| 2001 | #1,374 | 139 | 0.0077% |
| 2000 | #1,400 | 133 | 0.0073% |
| 1999 | #1,487 | 116 | 0.0065% |
| 1998 | #1,575 | 105 | 0.0059% |
| 1997 | #1,894 | 78 | 0.0045% |
| 1996 | #1,581 | 99 | 0.0056% |
| 1995 | #2,406 | 54 | 0.0031% |
| 1994 | #3,018 | 39 | 0.0022% |
| 1993 | #4,058 | 26 | 0.0014% |
| 1992 | #3,923 | 27 | 0.0015% |
| 1991 | #10,991 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 1990 | #8,259 | 10 | 0.0005% |
| 1989 | #9,273 | 8 | 0.0004% |
| 1988 | #8,869 | 8 | 0.0004% |
| 1987 | #12,441 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1986 | #12,013 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| Year | Rank | Births | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | #6,752 | 8 | 0.0004% |
Name popularity over more than a century, based on Social Security Administration data. Gaps in the chart indicate years when the name does not appear in the published records.
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How the Name Mackenna Shapes Your Personality and Life?
You have psychic power. You can carry on for others with joy. You have a receptive nature and may bear burdens for others. You are pragmatic, thorough, strong-willed, practical and stubborn at times. You are hard working, often martyr to duty. You like home and security above all. You are bold, independent, inquisitive and interested in research. You know what you want and why you want it.
Position and social status is very important for you and you are always looking for way to improve your position in society. You have power and ability to chose your own destiny and achieve anything you want in life. You can expand in any direction according to your will and the set of values. You have passion for justice and belong to the position of authority. You have an inherent courage and endurance to accomplish "The Impossible Dream". With the power comes responsibility. You hold keys to the material world, but with this gift comes high spiritual responsibility to be fair and true to others. You are philosophical and mature, determined and intense with a desire to endure, often religious.
✦ Mackenna's Deeper Meaning & Tips for Parents Discover Mackenna's symbolic numbers and practical tips for choosing a name that complements your child's birth date.