Kenneth

English

Etymology

Anglicized form of two Goidelic names, Old Irish Cináed, the name of Scottish kings derived from Pictish *ᚉᚔᚅᚔᚑᚇ (Ciniod), and the saint's name Cainnech (literally “handsome”) (modern Scottish Gaelic Coinneach), as in the surname Mackenzie.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkɛn.əθ/
• Rhymes: -ɛnəθ

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Proper noun

Kenneth (countable and uncountable, plural Kenneths)

1. A male given name from Scottish Gaelic, originally used in Scotland, popular in all English-speaking countries in the 20th century.
   • 1825, Sir Walter Scott, chapter III, in The Talisman:

     Know, however, that among the soldiers of the Cross I am called Kenneth - Kenneth of the Couching Leopard; at home I have other titles, but they would sound harsh in an Eastern ear.

   • 1998 Barbara Vine ( Ruth Rendell ): The Chimney Sweeper's Boy. →ISBN page 166:

     "The other one, his name was Kenneth, was born in February nineteen twenty-one."

     "All these Kens," she said.

     "As you say. It must have been the sexy name. These days Kens are all Chinese cooks. - - -

2. A surname from Scottish Gaelic.

Related terms

• Ken
• Kenny

Translations

male given name

• Arabic: كِينِيث (kīnīṯ)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 肯尼思 (Kěnnísī)

• Greek: Κενέτας (Kenétas), Κορνήλιος (el) (Kornílios), Κένεθ (el) m (Kéneth)
• Italian: Canizio
• Japanese: ケネス (Kenesu)
• Korean: 케네스 (Keneseu)
• Portuguese: Kenneth
• Russian: Ке́ннет (ru) m (Kɛ́nnɛt)
• Serbo-Croatian: Кеннет
• Spanish: Kenneth

Statistics

• According to the 2010 United States Census, Kenneth is the 35582^nd most common surname in the United States, belonging to 632 individuals. Kenneth is most common among White (55.7%), Black/African American (17.56%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (14.72%) individuals.

References

• Patrick Hanks and Flavia Hodges: A Concise Dictionary of First Names. Oxford University Press 2001

Further reading

• Hanks, Patrick, editor (2003), “Kenneth”, in Dictionary of American Family Names, volume 2, New York City: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 293.

Cebuano

Etymology

From English Kenneth, from Scottish Gaelic.

Proper noun

Kenneth

1. a male given name from English [in turn from the Celtic languages]

Quotations

For quotations using this term, see Citations:Kenneth.

Danish

Etymology

From English Kenneth at the end of the 19th century.

Proper noun

Kenneth

1. a male given name

Related terms

• Ken, Kent

References

• [1] Danskernes Navne, based on CPR data: 16 673 males with the given name Kenneth have been registered in Denmark between about 1890 (=the population alive in 1967) and January 2005, with the frequency peak in the 1970s. Accessed on 19 June 2011.

Norwegian

Etymology

From English Kenneth in c. 1900.

Proper noun

Kenneth

1. a male given name

Related terms

• Ken, Kent

References

• Kristoffer Kruken - Ola Stemshaug: Norsk personnamnleksikon, Det Norske Samlaget, Oslo 1995, →ISBN
• [2] Statistisk sentralbyrå, Namnestatistikk: 9 392 males with the given name Kenneth living in Norway on January 1st 2011, with the frequency peak in the 1980s. Accessed on 19 May, 2011.

Swedish

Alternative forms

• Kennet

Etymology

From English Kenneth. First recorded as a given name in Sweden in 1898.

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

Proper noun

Kenneth c (genitive Kenneths)

1. a male given name borrowed from English

Related terms

• Kenny, Kent, Kenth

References

• Roland Otterbjörk: Svenska förnamn, Almqvist & Wiksell 1996, →ISBN
• [3] Statistiska centralbyrån and Sture Allén, Staffan Wåhlin, Förnamnsboken, Norstedts 1995, →ISBN: 27 379 males with the given name Kenneth living in Sweden on December 31st, 2010, with the frequency peak in the 1950s. Accessed on 19 June 2011.