MacKenzie
A Scottish clan surname meaning “son of Kenneth.”
The #2,628 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 22,482 Americans shares it.
Etymology
MacKenzie comes from the Gaelic patronymic Mac Coinnich, meaning “son of Coinneach” or “son of Kenneth.” The personal name Coinneach is usually explained as “fair” or “handsome,” though older writers sometimes treated the surname as if it meant only “son of Kenneth.” In English and Scots spelling, the name was commonly rendered Mackenzie or MacKenzie.
History
The surname is strongly associated with the Scottish Highlands and the powerful Clan Mackenzie. Historical traditions sometimes linked the family to Irish FitzGerald descent, but the 19th-century authorities cited here treat that claim as secondary to a Gaelic origin. The name also became common in Ulster, reflecting Scottish settlement there.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
In 19th-century surname studies, Mackenzie was often cited as one of the more common Scottish names in Ulster.
From the historical record
“non in Ulster. MACKENZIE. 'The son of Keneth." The family boast of their descent from the great Anglo-Norman race of Fitz-Gerald in Ireland in the XII. cent. ; but Skene sajs they are of unquestionably Gaelic origin. A modern genealogist, espousing the former opinion, says that the Craig-Hall Mackeuzies " were…”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom