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Mckenzie

Masculine · “Gaelic "son of Coinneach”

Mckenzie is given to both — 2,266 boys and 64,779 girls since 1880. See Mckenzie as a girl nameSee other names given to both

1917high 1996
#7194 in the U.S.given to only a few children a year
rare11 boys in 2025

Mckenzie in the boys' column is the interesting half of a crossing. The name went to girls in the 1990s and became very large there, and its male use — peaking at #1025 in 1996, at the very moment the female curve was climbing — is what a surname looks like on its way out of the men's column rather than into it.

How old is the name Mckenzie?

Mckenzie first appears in US birth records in 1917 — 108 years ago. The typical Mckenzie alive today was born around 1994, making them about 31 years old. About 2,100 people named Mckenzie are estimated to be alive in the US today.

When was the name Mckenzie most popular?

Mckenzie peaked in 1996, reaching #1025 nationally. Today it ranks #7194, 6,169 places below that high. See the whole 1996 chart.

Compare this nameMore “M” names

Lists built from the same records:

I

Where it comes from

The story of Mckenzie

Clan Mackenzie held Kintail and Ross and was one of the great Highland families. The surname reached America in numbers and, like most Scottish surnames, became a given name for boys in the twentieth century. Its move to girls began in the late 1980s and was complete within fifteen years; by 2000 it was a top-fifty girls' name and almost absent for boys. The 1996 male peak therefore sits at a crossing point, and the data shows both curves in the same year — one rising, one about to fall.

Meaning

Gaelic "son of Coinneach", from a word meaning "comely" or "fair"

From Mac Coinnich, son of Coinneach. The personal name Coinneach derives from a word meaning comely, handsome or fair-formed, and is anglicized as Kenneth — though the Scottish Kenneth also absorbed a separate name Cináed, born of fire, and the two have been thoroughly confused. The Mackenzie derivation itself is settled.

How the name formed

  1. Coinneach
  2. Mac Coinnich
  3. Mackenzie
  4. Mckenzie

Related forms: MacCoinnich · Mackenzie

Pronouncing Mckenzie

muh-KEN-zee

Three syllables with the stress in the middle. The Gaelic Coinneach is closer to KON-yakh, so the anglicized form has moved a long way. Mckenzie and Mackenzie are identical aloud.

Nicknames for Mckenzie

Moderate

KenzieThe back of the name, and now a common name in its own right, mostly female
MacThe prefix, which reads as masculine and is the more traditional route
KennyBorrows the short form of Kenneth, which is the anglicization of the same root name
II

What the data says

The long climb, and where it stands now

BOYS NAMED · 1917–20251206001201119172025

US babies named Mckenzie per year from 1917 to 2025
AVERAGE RANK BY DECADE#1#10#100#1000#10251910s2020s

The same years in position rather than babies

First recorded
1917
Most boys named
1996120 — the highest on record
Peak rank
#1025reached in 1996
Change vs 2023
+57.1%11 in 2025, from 7
Mckenzie sits in the rare tail. Its best year on record was 1996, with 120 boys. Today it is given to few enough children that it does not enter the ranked charts at all.

Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.

Mckenzie in other languages

The same name elsewhere

  • MacCoinnich in Scottish Gaelic — same name
  • Mackenzie in English — spelling variant

Mckenzies among us

2,100

people named Mckenzie are estimated to be alive in the US today

About 1 boy in 155,280 born in 2025 was named Mckenzie

Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method

III

Is it right for you

The Philippe test

Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Mckenzie's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Philippe climbed just as high around 1964, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Philippe's path sketches the road Mckenzie is walking now.

40%chance Mckenzie will feel dated by 2040
Mckenzie, aligned on its peakPhilippe· peak 1964not yet written
#1#10#100#1000peak-40 yrs+60 yrsPhilippe · #5777Mckenzie today
Mckenzie today is about where Philippe stood in 1993 — 29 years past a #1025-sized peak. By 2008, Philippe had settled around #3295.
Ages quietlysteadyDates fast

Mckenzie sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.

A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored

Mckenzie beside its neighbors

The names ranked closest to Mckenzie in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.

Mckenziethis name11#7194Junius11#7194Orie11#7194Shade11#7194Chesley11#7194

US boys given each name in 2025.

The trade-off

Practical strengths
  • It has a documented Highland clan and a settled Gaelic etymology.
  • Mac is available as an unambiguously masculine short form.
  • The sound is completely familiar.
What to consider
  • It is now overwhelmingly a girls' name in America.
  • Mackenzie, Mckenzie and McKenzie all appear, and capitalization is unresolved.
  • The Mc- prefix means son of, which is at least consistent here.

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Mckenzie

Masculine · #7194 in the U.S.

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Frequently asked

How many Mckenzies are there in the world?
No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 2,100 people named Mckenzie are estimated to be alive in the US today.
How popular is the name Mckenzie in 2025?
Mckenzie ranks #7194 among US boy names in 2025, with 11 babies given the name.
How rare is the name Mckenzie?
About 1 in every 155,280 US boys born in 2025 was named Mckenzie — 11 in all.
Will my child share the name Mckenzie with classmates?
Mckenzie will almost certainly be the only one in school.

Ranked beside Mckenzie

Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.

Junius#7194 · Orie#7194 · Shade#7194 · Chesley#7194 · Joesph#7194 · Lofton#7194 · Macon#7194 · Benjiman#7194

Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Mckenzie? See the current top 100.

Choosing between Mckenzie and another name?

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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology

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