Fun Facts About the Name Mckenna
- More than 44 thousand babies named Mckenna: U.S. records list 44,486 babies given the name Mckenna from 1880 through 2025. Even 183 boys received the name Mckenna - about 1 boy for every 242 girls.
What Does the Name Mckenna Mean?
McKenna is an anglicized form of the Irish Gaelic surname Mac Cionaoith (also written Mac Cionnaith), meaning "son of Cionaoith." The element Mac- means "son of," so the name began as a patronymic: a surname identifying a man as the son of a father named Cionaoith.
Cionaoith is an old Irish personal name, and its exact sense is not fully settled. It is commonly analyzed as a compound whose first element is cion ("affection, love, esteem") and whose second element is identified with the personal name Aodh ("fire"). On that reading the compound is sometimes interpreted along the lines of "fire of love." Because the second element is not certain, the literal meaning of Cionaoith should be treated as uncertain, and the reliable meaning of the surname is simply the patronymic "son of Cionaoith."
Mckenna Name History & Origins
The surname belongs to Gaelic Ireland. The form Mac Cionaoith was gradually anglicized into spellings such as McKenna and MacKenna, with the shortened form Kenna also appearing. The Gaelic spelling varies between Mac Cionaoith and Mac Cionnaith.
The best-known family of the name were the Mac Cionaoith chiefs of Truagh (Triúcha), a district in what is now County Monaghan, within the historic kingdom of Airgialla, also called Oriel. They were one of the leading Gaelic families of that region. Their position was broken in the seventeenth century, when their lands in the Truagh area were lost during the confiscations that followed the Plantation of Ulster and the conflicts of that period.
The name traveled with Irish emigrants to Britain, North America, and Australia, where it remained chiefly a surname for generations. In the United States and Canada it has also been used as a given name, most often for girls, a usage that became noticeable in the later twentieth century.
How Popular is the Name Mckenna?
Mckenna recorded its highest annual U.S. birth count in 2002. Its best rank was #177 in 2002.
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 | #410 | 758 | 0.0472% |
| 2024 | #377 | 825 | 0.0511% |
| 2023 | #326 | 941 | 0.0587% |
| 2022 | #291 | 1,085 | 0.0662% |
| 2021 | #318 | 1,024 | 0.0624% |
| 2020 | #277 | 1,135 | 0.0703% |
| 2019 | #288 | 1,153 | 0.0687% |
| 2018 | #258 | 1,261 | 0.0742% |
| 2017 | #254 | 1,255 | 0.0727% |
| 2016 | #251 | 1,254 | 0.0708% |
| 2015 | #249 | 1,305 | 0.0731% |
| 2014 | #233 | 1,405 | 0.0787% |
| 2013 | #216 | 1,471 | 0.0838% |
| 2012 | #227 | 1,405 | 0.0798% |
| 2011 | #239 | 1,333 | 0.0758% |
| 2010 | #228 | 1,378 | 0.0775% |
| 2009 | #216 | 1,505 | 0.0819% |
| 2008 | #221 | 1,522 | 0.0805% |
| 2007 | #227 | 1,554 | 0.0808% |
| 2006 | #217 | 1,570 | 0.0826% |
| 2005 | #211 | 1,657 | 0.0897% |
| 2004 | #202 | 1,656 | 0.0902% |
| 2003 | #193 | 1,695 | 0.0928% |
| 2002 | #177 | 1,795 | 0.0999% |
| 2001 | #194 | 1,693 | 0.0940% |
| 2000 | #188 | 1,704 | 0.0938% |
| 1999 | #198 | 1,571 | 0.0886% |
| 1998 | #212 | 1,439 | 0.0814% |
| 1997 | #226 | 1,330 | 0.0764% |
| 1996 | #230 | 1,230 | 0.0702% |
| 1995 | #259 | 1,066 | 0.0606% |
| 1994 | #384 | 662 | 0.0371% |
| 1993 | #610 | 376 | 0.0208% |
| 1992 | #588 | 390 | 0.0212% |
| 1991 | #920 | 209 | 0.0111% |
| 1990 | #1,196 | 143 | 0.0075% |
| 1989 | #1,559 | 91 | 0.0049% |
| 1988 | #1,449 | 95 | 0.0053% |
| 1987 | #2,087 | 53 | 0.0030% |
| 1986 | #1,795 | 64 | 0.0037% |
| 1985 | #1,585 | 76 | 0.0044% |
| 1984 | #2,549 | 37 | 0.0022% |
| 1983 | #2,757 | 32 | 0.0019% |
| 1982 | #2,137 | 48 | 0.0028% |
| 1981 | #3,586 | 23 | 0.0014% |
| 1979 | #7,755 | 8 | 0.0005% |
| 1977 | #10,636 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1976 | #8,821 | 6 | 0.0004% |
| 1973 | #9,262 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1972 | #9,104 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| Year | Rank | Births | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | #10,274 | 7 | 0.0003% |
| 2005 | #12,694 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 2004 | #6,023 | 13 | 0.0007% |
| 2002 | #7,437 | 9 | 0.0005% |
| 2001 | #10,102 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 2000 | #8,803 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 1999 | #5,541 | 12 | 0.0006% |
| 1998 | #5,354 | 12 | 0.0006% |
| 1997 | #5,166 | 12 | 0.0006% |
| 1996 | #3,499 | 20 | 0.0011% |
| 1995 | #1,976 | 43 | 0.0023% |
| 1994 | #2,733 | 27 | 0.0014% |
| 1993 | #9,663 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1991 | #9,124 | 5 | 0.0002% |
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 Mckenna 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 have an eventful, exciting life. You are versatile and have the ability to learn easily.
You are very intuitive. You have a reservoir of inspired wisdom combined with inherited analytical ability, which could reward you through expressions of spiritual leadership, business analysis, marketing, artistic visions, and scientific research. Operating on spiritual side of your individuality can bring you to the great heights, and drop you off if you neglect your spiritual identity. You are always looking for an opportunity to investigate the unknown, to use and show your mental abilities, to find the purpose and meaning of life. You want to grow wise and to understand people and things. You need privacy to replenish your energy. You have a unique way of thinking, intuitive, reflective, absorbing.
✦ Mckenna's Deeper Meaning & Tips for Parents Discover Mckenna's symbolic numbers and practical tips for choosing a name that complements your child's birth date.