Mckinlee
Feminine name of Scottish origin meaning "child of wisdom or fire".
Name Census estimates that about 1,526 living Americans carry the first name Mckinlee. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Mckinlee today is around 12 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Mckinlee births was 2014 (102 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Mckinlee. 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
- • Mckinlee 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
1.5K
~ 1 in 224,610 Americans
Peak year
2014
102 babies that year
Average age
12
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,305
Tracked since 1994
Census
Mckinlee in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,091 people with the first name Mckinlee, which placed it at #11,666 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
#11,666
National first-name rank
People counted
1.1K
1,091 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
84.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Mckinlee
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Mckinlee is White at 84.4%. The next largest groups are Black (6.3%) and Two or More Races (4.9%). 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 Mckinlee 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 Mckinlee at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White84.4% · 921
- Black or African American6.3% · 69
- Two or more races4.9% · 54
- Hispanic or Latino3.8% · 42
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 4
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.1% · 1
Popularity
Mckinlee: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Mckinlee 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 870 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Mckinlee remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Mckinlee 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 Mckinlee during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Mckinlees live
The SSA's state-level files cover 19 states and territories. Texas, Utah, Tennessee recorded the most babies named Mckinlee, while South Carolina, Pennsylvania, Missouri recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 24 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Mckinlee
The name Mckinlee is a relatively modern English given name that emerged in the late 20th century. It is a combination of the Scottish surname McKinley and the popular feminine name Lee. The McKinley surname itself has origins dating back to the 15th century in Scotland, derived from the Gaelic name "Maolchaluim" meaning "disciple of St. Columba."
While the name Mckinlee does not have a long historical lineage, it has gained popularity in recent decades as a unique and distinctive feminine name. There are no known ancient texts, religious scriptures, or historical records that reference this particular name.
The earliest recorded examples of the name Mckinlee are from the late 20th century, as parents began to creatively combine existing names to create new variations. However, there are a few notable individuals who have borne this name, although their impact on its popularity is difficult to ascertain.
One of the earliest known individuals with the name Mckinlee was Mckinlee Browdy, a Canadian actress born in 1995. She is best known for her role in the television series "The Killing" from 2011 to 2014.
Another individual with the name Mckinlee is Mckinlee Bastian, an American singer and songwriter born in 1999. She gained recognition for her appearances on the reality television show "The Voice" in 2018.
Mckinlee Baker is an American fashion model and social media influencer born in 1997. She has worked with various brands and has a significant following on platforms like Instagram.
Mckinlee Hanna is an American actress born in 2004. She has appeared in several television shows and films, including "The Goldbergs" and "American Housewife."
Mckinlee Rose is an American country music singer and songwriter born in 1996. She has released several singles and has garnered a dedicated following in the country music scene.
While the name Mckinlee is a relatively modern invention, it has gained popularity in recent years as parents seek unique and distinctive names for their children. Its combination of Scottish and English elements has contributed to its appeal, and it is likely that the name will continue to be used, although its historical significance remains limited.
People
Mckinlee + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Mckinlee 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
Mckinlee: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Mckinlee?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,526 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Mckinlee 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 224,610 US residents.
Is Mckinlee a common name?
We classify Mckinlee as "Rare". It ranks above 92.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,540 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Mckinlee most popular?
The single biggest year for Mckinlee was 2014, when 102 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Mckinlee 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 Mckinlee in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,091 people with the name Mckinlee, or 0.36 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #11,666 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 Mckinlee 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 Mckinlee?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Mckinlee leans strongly female. 1,065 people counted with this name were female (97.3%), compared with 30 male bearers (2.7%). 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 Mckinlee?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Mckinlee is White at 84.4%. The next largest groups are Black (6.3%) and Two or More Races (4.9%). 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 Mckinlee most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Mckinlee in the 2020 Census, accounting for 84.4% (921 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 Mckinlee in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Mckinlee a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Mckinlee 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 Mckinlee still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Mckinlee 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 Mckinlee 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 Mckinlee?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.