Kynnedi
A feminine name of American origin derived from Kennedy, meaning "unlucky head."
Name Census estimates that about 1,362 living Americans carry the first name Kynnedi. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Kynnedi today is around 12 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kynnedi births was 2019 (108 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kynnedi. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
Key insights
- • Kynnedi is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 12 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
1.4K
~ 1 in 251,655 Americans
Peak year
2019
108 babies that year
Average age
12
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,844
Tracked since 1996
Census
Kynnedi in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 824 people with the first name Kynnedi, which placed it at #14,328 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#14,328
National first-name rank
People counted
824
824 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
72.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kynnedi
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kynnedi is Black at 72.7%. The next largest groups are White (17.6%) and Two or More Races (5.8%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Kynnedi described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Kynnedi at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American72.7% · 599
- White17.6% · 145
- Two or more races5.8% · 48
- Hispanic or Latino3.4% · 28
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 4
Popularity
Kynnedi: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kynnedi from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 740 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Kynnedi remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Kynnedi by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Kynnedi during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kynnedis live
The SSA's state-level files cover 14 states and territories. Texas, Georgia, Louisiana recorded the most babies named Kynnedi, while Virginia, South Carolina, Ohio recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 39 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Kynnedi
The name Kynnedi is a variant spelling of the English name Kennedy, which has its origins in the Gaelic language of Scotland. The name is derived from the Gaelic words "ceann" meaning "head" and "éidigh" meaning "armored" or "matted." It is believed to have originated as a Scottish surname referring to a person who wore a type of head armor or helmet.
The name Kennedy first appeared in historical records in the 13th century, with references to individuals bearing the surname in Scottish charters and documents from that time period. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name was in 1278, when a man named John Kennedy was mentioned in the Ragman Rolls, a collection of homage pledges made to King Edward I of England by Scottish nobles and landowners.
Throughout the centuries, the Kennedy name has been associated with several prominent Scottish families and clans, particularly the Kennedys of Carrick and the Kennedys of Dunure. These families played important roles in Scottish history, with members serving as politicians, military leaders, and landowners.
In the 16th century, the Kennedys rose to prominence through their association with the Stewart dynasty, the royal house of Scotland. One notable figure was Gilbert Kennedy, who served as the Lord Treasurer of Scotland during the reign of King James IV in the early 1500s.
Another significant bearer of the name was Mathew Kennedy, a 16th-century Scottish philosopher and reformer who was a prominent figure in the Scottish Reformation. He was born in 1497 and played a crucial role in the intellectual and religious debates of his time.
In more recent history, the Kennedy surname gained international recognition through the influential American political dynasty of the same name. The most famous member of this family was John F. Kennedy, the 35th President of the United States, who was born in 1917 and served as President from 1961 until his assassination in 1963.
Other notable individuals with the first name Kennedy include Kennedy Davenport, an American drag queen and performer born in 1991; Kennedy Edmonds, an American actress born in 1973; Kennedy Holmes, an American actress born in 1976; and Kennedy McMann, an American actress born in 1996.
While the variant spelling "Kynnedi" is less common, it reflects the diverse ways in which the name has been adapted and interpreted over time, reflecting its rich history and cultural significance.
People
Kynnedi + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kynnedi as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with K
Other first names starting with K with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Kynnedi: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kynnedi?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,362 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kynnedi going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 251,655 US residents.
Is Kynnedi a common name?
We classify Kynnedi as "Rare". It ranks above 91.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,374 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kynnedi most popular?
The single biggest year for Kynnedi was 2019, when 108 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kynnedi is about 12 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kynnedi in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 824 people with the name Kynnedi, or 0.27 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #14,328 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Kynnedi in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Kynnedi?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kynnedi appears almost entirely female. Of the 827 people counted with this name, 99.2% were female and only a very small share were male. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Kynnedi?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kynnedi is Black at 72.7%. The next largest groups are White (17.6%) and Two or More Races (5.8%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Kynnedi most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Kynnedi in the 2020 Census, accounting for 72.7% (599 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Kynnedi in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kynnedi a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Kynnedi in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Kynnedi still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kynnedi in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Kynnedi can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many Americans are named Kynnedi?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.