Kenneth
Origin
Kenneth McAlpin
Pronunciation	/ˈkɛnɪθ/
Gender	Male
Language(s)	English
Meaning	Handsome, Fire-born
Other names
Related names	Cainnech/Coinneach, Cináed

Kenneth is a given name of Gaelic origin. The name is an Anglicised form of two entirely different Gaelic personal names: Cainnech and Cináed. The modern Gaelic form of Cainnech is Coinneach; the name was derived from a byname meaning "handsome", "comely".^[1] A short form of Kenneth is Ken.

Etymology

The second part of the name Cinaed is derived either from the Celtic *aidhu, meaning "fire",^[2] or else Brittonic jʉ:ð meaning "lord".^[3]

People

(see also Ken (name) and Kenny)

Cainnech of Aghaboe (515/16–600), Ireland, Saint Canice or Saint Kenneth
Saint Cenydd or Welsh Saint Keneth, (a separate individual from above)
Kenneth (1927–2013), born Kenneth Battelle, American celebrity hairdresser
Kenneth MacAlpin, Kenneth I of Scotland
Kenneth II of Scotland
Kenneth III of Scotland
Kenneth J. Alford (1881–1945), English composer
Kenneth Allen (murderer) (born 1942), American murderer
Kenneth Allott (1912–1973), Anglo-Irish poet and academic
Kenneth Alwyn (1925–2020), English conductor and composer
Kenneth Amis (b. 1970), Bermudian tuba player
Kenneth Anger (b. 1927), American avant-garde-film director
Kenneth Arrow (1921–2017), American economist, Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics winner, 1972
Kenneth Bager (b. 1962), Danish musician and record producer
Kenneth Bainbridge (1904–1996), American physicist
Kenneth Baker, Baron Baker of Dorking (b. 1934), UK Home Secretary
Kenneth Beard (1927–2010), English Cathedral Organist
Kenneth Benton (1909–1999), British MI6 officer and author
Kenneth Bressett (b. 1928), American numismatist
Kenneth Bianchi (b. 1951), American serial killer, one of the Hillside Stranglers
Kenneth Bigley, contractor, beheaded on television in Iraq
Kenneth W. Bilby (1918–1997), American recipient of the Legion of Honour, executive vice president of RCA, and author
Kenneth Blevins, American drummer and percussionist
Sir Kenneth Bloomfield (b. 1931), former Head of the Northern Ireland Civil Service
Kenneth E. Boulding (1910–1993), economist
Kenneth Box (b. 1930), British track and field sprinter
Sir Kenneth Branagh (b. 1960), Irish Shakespearean and film actor
Kenneth Bron (Kenny B) (b. 1961), Surinamese-born singer
Kenneth Bruffee (1934–2019), Professor emeritus at Brooklyn College
Kenneth Burke (1897–1993), American literary theorist and philosopher
Kenneth Calman (b. 1941), English chief medical officer
Kenneth Carpenter (b. 1949), paleontologist
Kenneth G. Caulton, inorganic chemist and professor
Kenneth Chenault (b. 1951), former CEO of American Express
Kenneth Arnold Chesney (b. 1968), American country singer
Kenneth Church (1930–2020), Canadian jockey
Kenneth Clark (1903–1983), English art historian
Kenneth Clark (psychologist)
Kenneth Clarke (b. 1940), Chancellor of the Exchequer
Kenneth Cole (b. 1954), American clothing designer
Kenneth Colley (b. 1937), English actor
Kenneth R. Conklin, activist
Kenneth Connor (1918–1993), British comedic actor
Kenneth Cope (b. 1931), English actor
Kenneth Cope (musician) (b. 1961), Mormon music composer
Kenneth Darling (1909–1998), British general
Kenneth C. Davis, American historian, author
Kenneth Dougall (b. 1993), Australian football player
Kenneth Dover (1920–2010), British academic
Kenneth "K. K." Downing (b. 1951), guitarist
Kenneth J. Dunkley (b. 1939), American inventor
Kenneth Easterday (1973–2016), American man born with the rare disability, sacral agenesis
Kenneth Edmonds ("Babyface"), American R&B singer
Kenneth Erskine, serial killer
Kenneth H. Fake (1895–1963), American politician
Kenneth Farrow (American football) (b. 1993), American football player
Kenneth Fearing (1902–1961), American poet
Kenneth Feinberg, American attorney
Kenneth Frampton (b. 1930), British architect and architecture critic
Kenneth Gainwell (b. 1999), American football player
John Kenneth Galbraith (1908–2006), Canadian-American economist
Kenneth Gamble, songwriter and producer
Kenneth Gasana, Rwandan basketball player
Kenneth J. Gergen, American psychologist
Kenneth R. Giddens, broadcaster
Kenneth Gorelick (Kenny G) (b. 1956), smooth jazz professional saxophonist
Kenneth Grahame (1859–1932), British author
Kenneth C. Griffin (b. 1968), American entrepreneur and billionaire
Kenneth E. Hagin, Pentecostal minister
Kenneth L. Hale (1934–2001, American linguist
Kenneth Halliwell (1926–1967), British actor, lover and murderer of Joe Orton
Kenneth Ham (b. 1954), American astronaut
Kenneth "Ken" Holtzman (b. 1945), American Major League Baseball pitcher
Kenneth "Ken" Hon, American geologist and head of Hawaiian Volcano Observatory.
Kenneth Horne (1907–1969), English actor and comedian
Kenneth Gardner Hughes (b. 1954), Canadian politician
Kenneth Hutchings (1882–1916), English amateur cricketer
Kenneth Irons, comic book character in Witchblade
Kenneth E. Iverson (1920–2004), Canadian computer scientist, developed the APL programming language
Kenneth V. Jones (1924–2020), British composer
Kenneth Katzner (1930–2003), American linguist
Kenneth Kaunda (1924–2021), first President of Zambia
Kenneth Keating (1900–1975), US Senator
Kenneth Kedi (b. 1971), Marshallese politician
Kenneth Kendall (1924–2012), British newsreader
Kenneth Keith Kelley (1901–1991), American chemist
Kenneth Kennedy (speed skater) (1913–1985), Australian Winter Olympian
Jonathan King, born Kenneth George King, pop music mogul
Kenneth Kitchen (b. 1932), British historian, Egyptologist
Kenneth Klassen (b. 1951), Canadian sex tourist
Kenneth Koch (1925–2002), American poet
Kenneth Kraus, former United States Marine
Kenneth Lawson (b. 1963), law professor and former lawyer
Kenneth Lay (1942–2006), American businessman, former CEO of Enron
Kenneth Livingstone (b. 1945), English politician
Kenneth Ma (b. 1974), Hong Kong actor
Kenneth McKellar (1869–1957), American politician
Kenneth McKellar (1927–2010), Scottish singer
Kenneth Barbour Montgomery (1897–1965), English World War I flying ace
Kenneth More (1914–1982), English actor (Genevieve, Reach for the Sky)
Kenneth Murdock (born 1963), Canadian truck driver who was a hitman for the Musitano crime family of Hamilton, Ontario
Kenneth Murray (disambiguation), multiple people
Kenneth O'Keefe (b. 1969), American-Irish-Palestinian activist
Kenneth Roderick O'Neal (1908–1989), African-American architect
Kenneth A. Oye (b. 1949), Associate Professor of Political Science and Engineering Systems, MIT
Kenneth Parcell from 30 Rock
Kenneth Parnell (1931–2008), American convicted sex offender, child rapist, and kidnapper
Kenneth Paschal (born 1966), American politician
Kenneth Perez (b. 1974), Danish footballer
Kenneth Lee Pike (1912–2000), American linguist and anthropologist
Kenneth Platts (1946–1989), British composer
Kenneth Ramchand (b. 1939), Trinidad and Tobago academic and writer
Kenneth Rexroth (1905–1982), American poet
Kenneth Robinson (British politician) (1911–1996), British politician and broadcaster
Kenneth Rose (1924–2014), royal biographer
Kenneth Ross, Scottish-American screenwriter of the films The Day of the Jackal, The Odessa File, etc.
Kenneth G. Ross (b. 1941), Australian playwright, and screenwriter of the film Breaker Morant
Kenneth Searight (1883–1957), British writer and linguist
Kenneth Shaw ("Buzz" Shaw) (b. 1939), American academic, college chancellor
Kenneth Slessor (1901–1971), Australian poet
Kenneth Starr (b. 1946), American lawyer, special investigator of U.S. President Bill Clinton
Kenneth M. Taylor (1919–2006), American WWII pilot
Kenneth Thomson, 2nd Baron Thomson of Fleet (1923–2006), Canadian businessman, billionaire
Kenneth Tigar (b. 1942), American actor
Kenneth Tolon II (b. 1981), college football player
Kenneth Tynan (1927–1980), English theatre critic and writer
Kenneth N. Waltz (1924–2013), American political scientist
Kenneth Warren (1926–2019), British Conservative Party politician
Kenneth Welsh (1942–2022), Canadian actor
Kenneth Williams (1926–1988), English comedian and actor
Kenneth G. Wilson (1936–2013), American theoretical physicist, winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics, 1982

Fictional characters

Kenneth Widmerpool, character in Anthony Powell's novel sequence A Dance to the Music of Time

Places

In the United States:

In Scotland:

Inch Kenneth, an island off the west coast of the Isle of Mull

Other

"What's the Frequency, Kenneth?", a song by R.E.M.
Hurricane Kenneth
Cyclone Kenneth

References

^ Hanks, Patrick; Hardcastle, Kate; Hodges, Flavia (2006), A dictionary of first names, Oxford Paperback Reference (2nd ed.), Oxford University Press, pp. 157–158, 343, 401, ISBN 978-0-19-861060-1
^ Busse, Peter E. (2006), "Cinaed mac Ailpín", in Koch, John T. (ed.), Celtic culture: a historical encyclopedia, ABC-CLIO, p. 438, ISBN 1-85109-445-8
^ Rhys, Guto. "Approaching the Pictish language: historiography, early evidence and the question of Pritenic" (PDF). University of Glasgow.

v t e Irish-language given names
Native masculine names	Ailill Aodh Aodhán Aonghus Art Breandán Breasal Brian Cailean Cainnech Cairbre Caoimhín Cathal Cearbhall Cian Cianán Ciarán Cinnéididh Colm Conaire Conall Conán Conchobhar Cormac Criofan Dáire Déaglán Diarmaid Domhnall Donn Donnchadh Eachann Éibhear Eochaidh Eóghan Fearghal Fearghus Féilim Fiach Fínghin Fionn Fionnbharr Fionnlagh Fionntán Flann Garaidh Iarlaith Lorcan Lughaidh Maine Muircheartach Muiredach Muirgheas Murchadh Niall Oisín Oscar Rían Rónán Ruairí Tadhg Toirdelbach
Native feminine names	Aíbinn Aifric Áine Aisling Aodhnait Aoife Barrdhubh Bébinn Bríd Cacht Caoimhe Ciara Clíona Clodagh Cobhlaith Dearbhail Dearbhfhorghaill Deirbhile Deidre Deirdre Dubhchobhlaigh Eithne Éadaoin Feidhelm Fíona Fionnuala Forbflaith Fíneamhain Gormflaith Gráinne Íde Lasairfhíona Meabh Mór Muirgheal Muirenn Niamh Nuala Órlaith Róisín Sadhbh Saoirse Síthmaith Sláine Sorcha Úna
Germanic-derived masculine names	Amhlaoibh Annraoi Dubhghall Éamonn Gearóid Gofraid Ímar Lachlann Liam Maghnus Raghnall Risteárd Roibeárd Séarlas Somhairle Tiobóid Tormond Ualtar Ùisdean
Bible-derived masculine names	Abracham Adhamh Árón Biniáimin Daibhí Dainéal Eafráim Gaibrial Íosac Iósua Irimia Maitiú Maois Mícheál (Maidhc) Nóe Parthalán Samúéil Seán Séamus Seosamh Síomón Solamh Tomás
Bible-derived feminine names	Abigeál Ánna Eábha Eilís Léá Madailéin Máire Mallaidh Náoimí Ráichéal Ríobhca Rút Sinéad Siobhán Seacailín Seosaimhín
Latin/Greek-derived masculine names	Aindréas Antóin Críostóir Damhnaic Pádraig Proinsias Giolla Críost Gréagóir Labhrás León Máirtín Marcas Nioclás Nollaig Peadar Pilib Pól Seoirse Stíofán Téodóir Uinseann
Latin/Greek-derived feminine names	Agata Aignéas Bairbre Caitlín Claire Léan Luiseach Máiréad Muinice Treasa
See also	Goidelic languages Irish language Scottish Gaelic language Manx language Irish name List of Scottish Gaelic given names Scottish Gaelic name Irish genealogy

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