2000
#544
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 55,084
First available Census row
Per 100,000 20.42
Uncommon Last name
Mckenzie
Son of Kenneth, an anglicized form of the Scottish Gaelic "MacCoinneach" or "MacCoinnich."
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 66,563 Americans carry the last name Mckenzie. That puts it at #569 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 19.42 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 5,149 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Mckenzie surname. You will find the Census Bureau frequency data, a multi-census history view, an ancestry and ethnicity breakdown based on self-reported demographics, the name's meaning and origin where available, and answers to the most common questions people ask about this surname.
For British records, Name Census UK has a British surname profile for Mckenzie with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
67K
1 in 5,149
Census rank
#569
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
19.4
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
58K
uncommon in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 58,046 bearers of the surname Mckenzie in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 19.42 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 569th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Mckenzie, the largest self-reported group is White at 61.1%. The next largest groups are Black (28.9%) and Two or More Races (4.4%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Mckenzie
The surname McKenzie has its origins in Scotland, dating back to the 13th century. It is a territorial name derived from the district of Kintail in the western Highlands, which was the ancestral home of the Clan Mackenzie. The name is believed to come from the Gaelic 'Mac Coinnich', meaning 'son of the handsome lad'.
The earliest recorded instance of the name appears in 1263, when Coinneach Maccoinnich is mentioned in a charter granted by the Earl of Ross. The clan's progenitor, Gilleoin of the Aird, is said to have lived in the late 12th century and was the founder of the Mackenzie dynasty.
One of the most notable figures in the Clan Mackenzie's history was Kenneth Mackenzie, 6th Earl of Seaforth (1611-1678), who played a significant role in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. Kenneth Mackenzie, 1st Earl of Seaforth (c. 1570-1633), was also a prominent figure and was granted the Earldom of Seaforth in 1623.
The name McKenzie has been associated with various place names in Scotland, such as Kintail and Gairloch, where the clan held significant landholdings. The variants 'Mackenzie' and 'MacKenzie' are also common spellings of the surname.
Other notable individuals with the surname McKenzie include Sir Alexander McKenzie (1767-1820), a Scottish-Canadian explorer who completed the first recorded transcontinental crossing of North America, and Sir William McKenzie (1842-1917), a Canadian railway contractor and businessman who co-founded the Canadian Northern Railway.
Henry McKenzie (1808-1892) was a British novelist and essayist, known for his works such as 'The Man of Feeling' and 'The Man of the World'. William Lyon McKenzie (1795-1861) was a Scottish-Canadian journalist, politician, and leader of the Upper Canada Rebellion in 1837.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Mckenzie
Among Census respondents with the surname Mckenzie, the largest self-reported group is White at 61.1%. The next largest groups are Black (28.9%) and Two or More Races (4.4%).
The bar chart below shows how Mckenzie bearers 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 surname, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown for every Census year so the breakdown stays comparable over time. When the source file also includes raw headcounts, Name Census shows those alongside the percentages in the legend.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A person's surname does not determine their race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the Mckenzie surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White61.1% · 35,461
- Black or African American28.9% · 16,776
- Two or more races4.4% · 2,535
- Hispanic or Latino4.1% · 2,402
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.9% · 501
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 371
Timeline
Historical Census data for Mckenzie
Mckenzie appears in 3 published Census surname files: 2000, 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2010
#563
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 59,595
+4,511 bearers (+8.2%)
Per 100,000 20.20
Rank movement Down 19 places
2020
#569
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 58,046
-1,549 bearers (-2.6%)
Per 100,000 19.42
Rank movement Down 6 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #544 | 55,084 | 20.42 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #563 | 59,595 | 20.20 | +4,511 bearers (+8.2%) | Down 19 places |
| 2020 | #569 | 58,046 | 19.42 | -1,549 bearers (-2.6%) | Down 6 places |
For 2020, the Census Bureau published race and Hispanic-origin columns as counts rather than percentages. Name Census converts those counts back into shares so the ancestry section stays comparable with the older surname files.
Year on year
2010 vs 2020 Census
How has the Mckenzie surname changed between Census years? The chart shows bearer count side by side, and the table compares rank, count, and frequency.
Census year comparison
20102020
| Metric | 2010 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #563 | #569 | -1.1% |
| Count | 59,595 | 58,046 | -2.6% |
| Per 100K | 20.20 | 19.42 | -3.9% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Mckenzie bearers went from 59,595 to 58,046 (-2.6% change). The surname moved down 6 positions in the national ranking, going from #563 to #569.
Notable bearers
Famous people with the surname Mckenzie
FAQ
Mckenzie surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Mckenzie?
Name Census estimates that about 66,563 living Americans carry the surname Mckenzie. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 5,149 residents.
How common is Mckenzie?
Mckenzie ranks #569 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Uncommon." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 19.42 per 100,000 residents, which is about 19 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 58,046 people with the surname Mckenzie. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (66,563), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 19.42 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 19.42 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 19 of them to have the surname Mckenzie.
Has Mckenzie become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Mckenzie went from 59,595 recorded bearers to 58,046. That is a decrease of 1,549 (-2.6%). In the national ranking it fell from #563 to #569.
What does the Census say about the background of Mckenzie?
Among Census respondents with the surname Mckenzie, the largest self-reported group is White at 61.1%. The next largest groups are Black (28.9%) and Two or More Races (4.4%). These figures come from the 2020 Census Bureau surname tables, based on how respondents described their own race and ethnicity.
Which group reports this surname most often?
White is the largest self-reported group for the surname Mckenzie in the 2020 Census, accounting for 61.1% (35,461 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Mckenzie appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (61.1%), Black (28.9%), Two or More Races (4.4%). For 2020, the source file also published raw headcounts for each group, which is why this page can show both percentages and counts in the ancestry section.
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Yes. This page is using the latest surname file currently loaded on Name Census, which is 2020. The historical section above also keeps any older Census surname entries we have for Mckenzie (2000, 2010, 2020).
Does the Census include every surname?
No. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames that appeared at least 100 times in a given decennial Census. That means very rare surnames are excluded entirely, and a surname can appear in one Census release but disappear from a later one if it falls below the reporting threshold.
Why don't the ancestry percentages always add up to exactly 100%?
There are two main reasons: rounding and suppression. The Census Bureau rounds published values, and it may suppress very small cells to protect privacy. For 2020, the Bureau also published raw group counts rather than direct percentages, so Name Census converts those counts back into shares for comparability across census years.
What does Mckenzie mean?
Son of Kenneth, an anglicized form of the Scottish Gaelic "MacCoinneach" or "MacCoinnich." The fuller origin note on this page goes into more detail.
Where does the surname data come from?
All surname statistics on Name Census are drawn from the US Census Bureau's decennial surname frequency tables. These files list every surname that appeared 100 or more times in the 2020 Census, along with a count, a per-100,000 rate, and a self-reported demographic breakdown. You can read the full explanation on our methodology page.
How does Name Census estimate living bearers?
For surnames, Name Census does not age cohorts the way it does for first names. Instead, it takes the Census Bureau's published frequency for Mckenzie (19.42 per 100,000) and applies that rate to the current U.S. resident population to estimate how many living Americans have the surname today.
How many people have the surname Mckenzie?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.