Kenneth
 |
| Origin | |
|---|---|
| Word/name |  Scotland |
Kenneth is a male given name.
Origin
It is an anglicized (Scots) form of either the Pictish name Ciniod or the Goidelic name Cináed, often thought to mean "fire-head" or "born of fire" (see Áed), but ultimately derives from a shared prototype with Kennedy; Cunedagius, originally Cornish (then indistinct from other Brythonic languages)--after which was carried north to Valentia and borne by Cunedda (Latin Cunetacius), founder of Gwynedd. Its popularity among the Britons also led to another form in Welsh Cenydd or Cennydd (the name of a Welsh hermit saint who traditionally lived in the 6th century). Coincidentally, a female name from ancient Britain; Jennifer (see Guinevere), is spelt similar post-anglicisation and likewise comes from Cornwall.
Similar names have also been anglicized as Kenneth, including the Gaelic Coinneach ("handsome one"; eg Cainnech of Aghaboe) and the Old English Cyneath may mean "royal oath", used as a non-Celtic alternative etymology.
Saint John Kenneth Ceriales Day is October 11. English nicknames include Kenny and Ken, the latter also being a Japanese name.
People
- (see also Ken (name) and Kenny)
- Cainnech of Aghaboe, Saint Canice or Saint Kenneth
- Saint Cenydd or (Welsh Saint Keneth, a separate individual from above)
- Kenneth MacAlpin, Kenneth I of Scotland
- Kenneth II of Scotland
- Kenneth III of Scotland
- Kenneth Alford, composer
- Kenneth Amis, tuba player
- Kenneth Anger, avant-garde-film director
- Kenneth Arrow, Nobel Peace Prize winner for Economics, 1972
- Kenneth Baker, Baron Baker of Dorking, UK Home Secretary
- Kenneth Bianchi, one of the Hillside Stranglers
- Kenneth Bigley, contractor, beheaded on television in Iraq
- Kenneth E. Boulding, economist
- Kenneth Box, British track and field sprinter
- Kenneth Lee Boyd, murderer
- Kenneth Branagh, Shakespearean and film actor
- Kenneth Burke, American literary theorist and philosopher
- Kenneth Calman, English chief medical officer
- Kenneth Carpenter, paleontologist
- Kenneth Clark, English art historian
- Kenneth Clark (psychologist)
- Kenneth Clarke, Chancellor of the Exchequer
- Kenneth Cole (designer), clothing designer
- Kenneth Colley, actor
- Kenneth R. Conklin, activist
- Kenneth Connor, British comedic actor
- Kenneth Cope, actor
- Kenneth Cope (musician), Mormon music composer
- Kenneth Darling, British general
- Kenneth C. Davis, author
- Kenneth K. K. Downing, guitarist
- Kenneth Edmonds ("Babyface"), American R&B singer
- Kenneth Erskine, serial killer
- Kenneth Fearing, American poet
- Kenneth Feinberg, attorney
- John Kenneth Galbraith, economist
- Kenneth Gamble, songwriter and producer
- Kenneth J. Gergen, American psychologist
- Kenneth R. Giddens, broadcaster
- Kenneth Gorelick (Kenny G), smooth jazz professional saxophonist
- Kenneth C. Griffin, billionaire
- Kenneth E. Hagin, Pentecostal minister
- Kenneth L. Hale, linguist
- Kenneth Halliwell, lover and murderer of Joe Orton
- Kenneth Ham, astronaut
- Kenneth Horne, actor and comedian
- Kenneth Gardner Hughes, Canadian politician
- Kenneth Irons, comic book character in Witchblade
- Kenneth E. Iverson, computer scientist, developed the APL programming language
- Kenneth Kaunda, first President of Zambia
- Kenneth Keating, US Senator
- Kenneth Kendall, newsreader
- Kenneth Kennedy, Australian Winter Olympian
- Jonathan King, born Kenneth George King, pop music mogul
- Kenneth Kitchen, Egyptologist
- Kenneth Koch, poet
- Kenneth Lay, former CEO of Enron
- Kenneth Matthews, English race walker
- Kenneth McKellar, American politician
- Kenneth McKellar (singer), Scottish singer
- Kenneth More, actor (Genevieve, Reach for the Sky)
- Kenneth O'Keefe, activist
- Kenneth Perez, Danish footballer
- Kenneth Peters, Danish handballer
- Kenneth Lee Pike, linguist and anthropologist
- Kenneth Rexroth, American poet
- Kenneth Robinson, politician and broadcaster
- Kenneth Rose, royal biographer
- Kenneth Ross, Scottish-American screenwriter of the films The Day of the Jackal, The Odessa File, etc.
- Kenneth G. Ross, Australian playwright, and screenwriter of the film Breaker Morant
- Kenneth Searight, linguist
- Kenneth Shaw ("Buzz" Shaw), college chancellor
- Kenneth Starr, special investigator in Monica Lewinsky scandal
- Kenneth M. Taylor, American WWII pilot
- Kenneth Thomson, 2nd Baron Thomson of Fleet, Canadian businessman, billionaire
- Kenneth Tolon II (b. 1981), college football player
- Kenneth Tynan, critic
- Kenneth Walt, multi talented school student
- Kenneth Welsh, actor
- Kenneth Williams, comedian and actor
- Kenneth G. Wilson, winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics, 1982
Places
In the United States:
Other
- "What's the Frequency, Kenneth?", a song by R.E.M.