Mackensie
Scottish feminine diminutive form of Mackenzie meaning "son of the comely one".
Name Census estimates that about 888 living Americans carry the first name Mackensie. It is a predominantly female name (99.4% of registrations). The average person named Mackensie today is around 25 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Mackensie births was 1998 (63 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Mackensie. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Mackensie with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
888
~ 1 in 385,985 Americans
Peak year
1998
63 babies that year
Average age
25
years old
1993 SSA rank
#9,610
Tracked since 1978
Census
Mackensie in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 911 people with the first name Mackensie, which placed it at #13,310 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
#13,310
National first-name rank
People counted
911
911 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
83.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Mackensie
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Mackensie is White at 83.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (6.5%) and Black (4.8%). 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 Mackensie 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 Mackensie at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White83.2% · 758
- Hispanic or Latino6.5% · 59
- Black or African American4.8% · 44
- Two or more races4.2% · 38
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.0% · 9
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 3
Gender
Gender distribution for Mackensie
Out of the 909 babies given the name Mackensie since 1880, 99.4% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Mackensie as a male name
- Ranked #9,610 in 1993
- 5 male births in 1993
- Peak: 1993 (5 births)
Mackensie as a female name
- Ranked #16,745 in 2021
- 5 female births in 2021
- Peak: 1998 (63 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Mackensie leans strongly female. 864 people counted with this name were female (94.7%), compared with 48 male bearers (5.3%).
Popularity
Mackensie: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Mackensie from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 358 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Mackensie 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 Mackensie during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Mackensies live
The SSA's state-level files cover 8 states and territories. Texas, Georgia, California recorded the most babies named Mackensie, while Virginia, Ohio, New York recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 8 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Mackensie
The name Mackensie is a Scottish variant of the masculine name Mackenzie. It originated from the Gaelic name "MacCoinneach," which translates to "son of the handsome or bright one." The name is believed to have originated in the Scottish Highlands during the medieval period.
The earliest recorded use of the name Mackensie can be traced back to the 13th century, when it was used by members of the Clan Mackenzie, a prominent Scottish clan. The name gained popularity in Scotland during this time and was often associated with nobility and landownership.
One of the most notable historical figures with the name Mackensie was Sir George Mackensie, a Scottish lawyer and writer who lived from 1636 to 1691. He was a prominent figure in the Scottish legal system and wrote several influential works on Scottish law.
Another notable person with the name Mackensie was Henry Mackensie, a Scottish minister and writer who lived from 1737 to 1831. He is best known for his work "The Man of Feeling," which is considered one of the first novels in the sentimental tradition.
In the 19th century, the name Mackensie gained popularity outside of Scotland, particularly in North America. One of the most famous individuals with the name was Ranald Mackensie, a Canadian explorer and fur trader who lived from 1779 to 1820. He played a significant role in the exploration and mapping of the Canadian Northwest Territories.
Another notable figure with the name Mackensie was Sir Alexander Mackensie, a Scottish-Canadian explorer who lived from 1764 to 1820. He was the first European to cross the continent of North America from east to west, completing the journey in 1793.
In more recent times, the name Mackensie has been adapted as a feminine name, often spelled as "Mackenzie" or "Mackensie." This has contributed to its increased popularity in various parts of the world.
People
Mackensie + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Mackensie as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with M
Other first names starting with M with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Mackensie: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Mackensie?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 888 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Mackensie 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 385,985 US residents.
Is Mackensie a common name?
We classify Mackensie as "Very Rare". It ranks above 89.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 909 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Mackensie most popular?
The single biggest year for Mackensie was 1998, when 63 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Mackensie is about 25 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Mackensie in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 911 people with the name Mackensie, or 0.30 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #13,310 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 Mackensie 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 Mackensie?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Mackensie leans strongly female. 864 people counted with this name were female (94.7%), compared with 48 male bearers (5.3%). 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 Mackensie?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Mackensie is White at 83.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (6.5%) and Black (4.8%). 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 Mackensie most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Mackensie in the 2020 Census, accounting for 83.2% (758 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 Mackensie in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Mackensie a female name?
Yes, 99.4% of people registered as Mackensie 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 Mackensie still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Mackensie 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 Mackensie 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 people have Mackensie as a first name?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.