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 [ 2 syll. ken-net(h), ke-nne-th ] The boy name Kenneth is pronounced as KEHNahTH KEY. Kenneth is primarily used in English and Scottish, and it is of Celtic origin. Kenneth's meaning is fair and fiery. Derived from the element 'caomh' which is of the meaning fair, comely, gentle. The name evolved as the Anglicized form of the Gaelic names Cináed (Celtic) and Cainneach (Celtic), which mean 'born of fire' and 'fair, handsome one' respectively. Cainneach survives as the modern form Coinneach in Scotland. The name Kenneth was adopted regularly by English speakers from the mid 19th century, and its use has spread beyond people of Scottish roots. The Irish Cainnech, the Scottish Cináed, the Scottish Coinneach, the Hawaiian Keneke, the Scandinavian Kennet, the English Kenney, the Russian Kenya, and the Russian Kesha are variations of the name. The short forms Ken (English and German) and Kenn (English), the pet forms Kenny (English, Irish, and Scottish) and Kent (Scandinavian), and the spelling variants Keneth (English) and Kennith (English) are other forms of Kenneth. Kenneth is a classic favorite. Currently it is still popular as a baby name for boys, though it was in more widespread use before. At the peak of its usage in 1951, 1.354% of baby boys were named Kenneth. It ranked at #16 then. The baby name has since experienced a fall in frequency, and is now of occasional use. In 2008, its usage was only 0.137% and its ranking #136, but it was nevertheless the most popular out of all boy names in its group. In 2008, 6 times more boys were named Kenneth than the next ranked name, the English, Irish, and Scottish Kenny. Kenneth has mostly been a boy name, though in the past century it has also been used for girls. In 1965, the name Kenneth was given to 200 times more boys than girls. Baby names that sound like Kenneth include the English Kennith, the name Kantu, the Yoruban Kehinde, the English Keneth, the Scandinavian Kennet, the Japanese Kento, the Swahili Kondo, the French Candide, the English Conant, the Spanish and Italian Quinto, the German and Scandinavian Kanute, the English Kenedi, the English, Irish, and Scottish Kennedy, the Scandinavian and English Kent, the Swahili Kenyatta, the Swahili Khamidi, the Spanish Cande, the Italian Candido, the English, German, and Scandinavian Canute, and the English Quent. KEY: Pronunciation for Kenneth: K as in "key (K.IY)" ; EH as in "Ed (EH.D)" ; N as in "knee (N.IY)" ; AH as in "hut (HH.AH.T)" ; TH as in "theta (TH.EY.T.AH)"   |
