Kenney
A surname with several roots: it can be Irish, English locational, or Norman/French in origin.
The #1,266 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 11,122 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Kenney has more than one possible origin. In Irish usage, it is often treated as an Anglicized form linked to Gaelic names such as Mac Coinneach, meaning “son of Coinneach” or “son of the handsome one,” though the exact line of development can vary by family. In English records, Lower connects Kenney with a place called Kenue in Somerset, while Weekley also notes a Norman French form, quenai, as one source of the name. Because different families adopted the spelling independently, Kenney does not have a single universal derivation.
History
Historical sources show the name in Ireland by the late medieval period, and Lower reports a Somerset family of early standing as well as later Irish bearers. The spelling has long fluctuated between Kenne, Kenei, Kenny, and Kenney. In some cases, later Irish families with the same surname tradition were said to have different origins, including a possible Huguenot line.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
A 19th-century source specifically notes that one Irish Kenny family claimed Huguenot ancestry, showing how one spelling can hide several different family histories.
From the historical record
“Keneth. Its latinization is Cuuetius. KENNEY. The Kenneys, who settled in Ireland temp. Edw. IV. A.D. 1472, were of high antiquity in Somersetsliire, deriving their name from Kenue in that county. So early as 12 Henry II., John de Kenne held two knight's fees in Kenue. The name has been variously spelt Kenne…”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom