Mckinlee
Feminine · “son of the fair hero”
Mckinlee is a respelling of McKinley, a Scottish Highland surname meaning son of Finlay — and Finlay means the fair hero or fair warrior.
How old is the name Mckinlee?
Mckinlee first appears in US birth records in 1994 — 31 years ago. The typical Mckinlee is a kid of about 10 — this name's wave is very recent. About 1,600 people named Mckinlee are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Mckinlee most popular?
Mckinlee peaked in 2019, reaching #1941 nationally. Today it ranks #3645, 1,704 places below that high. See the whole 2019 chart.
Where it comes from
From Fionnlagh to Mckinlee
The story of Mckinlee
Mac Fhionnlaigh is a Highland surname anglicized as MacKinlay, McKinley and Kinley, and it reached America with Scots-Irish emigration. An American president of the surname made it nationally familiar, and North America's highest mountain carried his name for over a century before its Koyukon name was restored. The girls' given name is recent and belongs with Kinsley, Brinley and Everly.
Meaningscholars disagree
son of the fair hero
From Gaelic Mac Fhionnlaigh, son of Fionnlagh, built on fionn, fair or white, and a second element read as a hero or warrior, though a reading as a calf has also been offered. The Mac is settled.
How the name formed
- Fionnlagh
- Mac Fhionnlaigh
- McKinley
- Mckinlee
Related forms: Mac Fhionnlaigh · McKinley · Finlay
Pronouncing Mckinlee
muh-KIN-lee
Three syllables with the stress in the middle. There is no variation.
Nicknames for Mckinlee
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1994
- Most girls named
- 2014102 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1941reached in 2019
- Change vs 2024
- −16.3%41 in 2025, from 49
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.
Mckinlee in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Mac Fhionnlaigh in Scottish Gaelic — related form
- McKinley in English — spelling variant
- Finlay in English — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, Ohio, Georgia.
Mckinlees among us
people named Mckinlee are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 39,202 born in 2025 was named Mckinlee
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Mckinlee
- #3645
- Mckinlee on the 2025 chart
- #903
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Mckinlee went to 41 girls in 2025, but Mckynlee is the same name said out loud. Together the 2 spellings went to 57, which makes it the 903rd most-given girls’ name of the year — 2,742 places above the chart.
- Mckinlee41
- Mckynlee16
About 1 girl in 28,198 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 39,202 for Mckinlee itself.
Spellings are grouped by a fixed rule that folds interchangeable English spellings of one sound (ck/k, ph/f, x/ks, a non-initial y for i) and keeps vowels apart, so Sean and Shawn stay separate names. It errs towards splitting: a family here is never larger than the truth. SSA national data, 2025. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Despina test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Mckinlee's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Despina climbed just as high around 1931, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Despina's path sketches the road Mckinlee is walking now.
Mckinlee 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
Where Mckinlee is headed
Mckinlee is easing off slowly — about 22% fewer babies a year by 2030 if the trend continues.
Medium confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Mckinlee beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Mckinlee in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A documented Gaelic meaning behind a very current sound.
- Kinlee is a complete short form in current use.
- Read correctly on sight by every English speaker.
- McKinley is the standard spelling and will be written for her constantly.
- The name literally means son of, which reads oddly for a girl once she knows it.
- The presidential association is strong for older Americans.
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Mckinlee
Feminine · #3645 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Mckinlees are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,600 people named Mckinlee are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Mckinlee?
- Mckinlee is the most-used spelling in US records — 41 of the 57 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Mckynlee.
- How popular is the name Mckinlee in 2025?
- Mckinlee ranks #3645 among US girl names in 2025, with 41 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Mckinlee?
- About 1 in every 39,202 US girls born in 2025 was named Mckinlee — 41 in all.
- Will my child share the name Mckinlee with classmates?
- Mckinlee will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Mckinlee
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Elenor#3645 · Azucena#3645 · Alaura#3645 · Judah#3645 · Rylen#3645 · Zamiyah#3645 · Naiara#3645 · Marietta#3645
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Mckinlee? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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