Kenneth

Kenneth
Pronunciation	/ˈkɛnɪθ/ KEN-ith
Gender	Masculine
Language	English
Origin
Language	Scottish Gaelic
Meaning	'Handsome', 'fire-born'
Other names
Short form	Ken
Related names	Cainnech/Coinneach, Cináed

Kenneth is a given name of Gaelic origin. The name is an Anglicised form of two entirely different Gaelic personal names: Cainnech and Cináed. The modern Scottish Gaelic form of Cainnech is Coinneach; the name was derived from a byname meaning "handsome", "comely".

Etymology

The second part of the name Cinaed is derived either from the Celtic *aidhu, meaning "fire", or else Brittonic jʉ:ð meaning "lord".

People

Kenneth (1927–2013), born Kenneth Battelle, American celebrity hairdresser
Kenneth MacAlpin, Kenneth I of Scotland
Kenneth II of Scotland
Kenneth III of Scotland
Kenneth J. Alford (1881–1945), English composer
Kenneth Allen (murderer) (born 1942), American murderer
Kenneth Allott (1912–1973), Anglo-Irish poet and academic
Kenneth Alwyn (1925–2020), English conductor and composer
Kenneth Amis (b. 1970), Bermudian tuba player
Kenneth Anger (1927–2023), American avant-garde-film director
Kenneth Arrow (1921–2017), American economist, Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics winner, 1972
Kenneth Atchity (born 1944), American producer, author, columnist, and book reviewer
Kenneth Bager (b. 1962), Danish musician and record producer
Kenneth Bainbridge (1904–1996), American physicist
Kenneth Baker, Baron Baker of Dorking (b. 1934), UK Home Secretary
Kenneth Barner, American engineer
Kenneth Beard (1927–2010), English Cathedral Organist
Kenneth Benton (1909–1999), British MI6 officer and author
Kenneth Bianchi (b. 1951), American serial killer, one of the Hillside Stranglers
Kenneth Bigley (1942–2004), contractor, beheaded on television in Iraq
Kenneth W. Bilby (1918–1997), American recipient of the Legion of Honour, executive vice president of RCA, and author
Kenneth Blevins, American drummer and percussionist
Sir Kenneth Bloomfield (1931–2025), former Head of the Northern Ireland Civil Service
Kenneth E. Boulding (1910–1993), economist
Kenneth Bowen (1932–2018), Welsh singer and musical director
Kenneth Box (1930–2022), British track and field sprinter
Sir Kenneth Branagh (b. 1960), Irish Shakespearean and film actor
Kenneth Bressett (b. 1928), American numismatist
Kenneth Bron (Kenny B) (b. 1961), Surinamese-born singer
Kenneth Bruffee (1934–2019), Professor emeritus at Brooklyn College
Kenneth Burke (1897–1993), American literary theorist and philosopher
Kenneth Calman (1941–2025), English chief medical officer
Kenneth Carpenter (b. 1949), paleontologist
Kenneth G. Caulton, inorganic chemist and professor
Kenneth Chenault (b. 1951), former CEO of American Express
Kenneth Arnold Chesney (b. 1968), American country singer
Kenneth Church (1930–2020), Canadian jockey
Kenneth Clark (1903–1983), English art historian
Kenneth Clark (psychologist)
Kenneth Clarke (b. 1940), Chancellor of the Exchequer
Kenneth Cole (b. 1954), American clothing designer
Kenneth Colley (1937–2025), English actor
Kenneth R. Conklin, activist
Kenneth Connor (1918–1993), British comedic actor
Kenneth Cope (1931–2024), English actor
Kenneth Cope (musician) (b. 1961), Mormon music composer
Kenneth Crosby (1904–1998), British Wesleyan missionary, bible translator and language scholar
Kenneth Darling (1909–1998), British general
Kenneth C. Davis, American historian, author
Kenneth Dougall (b. 1993), Australian association football player
Kenneth Dover (1920–2010), British academic
Kenneth "K. K." Downing (b. 1951), guitarist
Kenneth J. Dunkley (b. 1939), American inventor
Kenneth Easterday (1973–2016), American man born with the rare disability, sacral agenesis
Kenneth Edmonds ("Babyface") (b. 1959), American R&B singer
Kenneth Erskine (b. 1963), serial killer
Kenneth H. Fake (1895–1963), American politician
Kenneth Farrow (American football) (b. 1993), American football player
Kenneth Fearing (1902–1961), American poet
Kenneth Feinberg (b. 1945), American attorney
Kenneth Ford (disambiguation), several people
Kenneth Frampton (b. 1930), British architect and architecture critic
Kenneth Gainwell (b. 1999), American football player
John Kenneth Galbraith (1908–2006), Canadian-American economist
Kenneth Gamble (b. 1943), songwriter and producer
Kenneth Gasana (b. 1984), Rwandan basketball player
Kenneth J. Gergen (b. 1935), American psychologist
Kenneth R. Giddens (1908–1993), broadcaster
Kenneth Gittens (born 1971), Virgin Islands politician
Kenneth Goff (1914–1972), American minister
Kenneth Gorelick (Kenny G) (b. 1956), smooth jazz professional saxophonist
Kenneth Grahame (1859–1932), British author
Kenneth C. Griffin (b. 1968), American entrepreneur and billionaire
Kenneth E. Hagin (1917–2003), Pentecostal minister
Kenneth L. Hale (1934–2001), American linguist
Kenneth Halliwell (1926–1967), British actor, lover and murderer of Joe Orton
Kenneth Ham (b. 1954), American astronaut
Kenneth "Ken" Holtzman (1945–2024), American Major League Baseball pitcher
Kenneth "Ken" Hon, American geologist and head of Hawaiian Volcano Observatory.
Kenneth Horne (1907–1969), English actor and comedian
Kenneth Gardner Hughes (b. 1954), Canadian politician
Kenneth Hutchings (1882–1916), English amateur cricketer
Kenneth Irons, comic book character in Witchblade
Kenneth E. Iverson (1920–2004), Canadian computer scientist, developed the APL programming language
Kenneth Jamieson, American politician
Kenneth Jeyaretnam (Kenneth Andrew Jeyaretnam) (1959–2026), Singaporean hedge fund manager and politician
Kenneth V. Jones (1924–2020), British composer
Kenneth Katzner (1930–2003), American linguist
Kenneth Kaunda (1924–2021), first President of Zambia
Kenneth Keating (1900–1975), US Senator
Kenneth Kedi (b. 1971), Marshallese politician
Kenneth Kendall (1924–2012), British newsreader
Kenneth Keith Kelley (1901–1991), American chemist
Kenneth Kennedy (speed skater) (1913–1985), Australian Winter Olympian
Jonathan King (b. 1944), born Kenneth George King, pop music mogul
Kenneth Kitchen (1932–2025), British historian, Egyptologist
Kenneth Klassen (b. 1951), Canadian sex tourist
Kenneth Koch (1925–2002), American poet
Kenneth Kraus (b. 1956), former United States Marine
Kenneth Law (born 1965), Canadian man who assisted suicides
Kenneth Lawson (b. 1963), law professor and former lawyer
Kenneth Lay (1942–2006), American businessman, former CEO of Enron
Kenneth Little (1908–1991), English academic
Kenneth Livingstone (b. 1945), English politician
Kenneth Ma (b. 1974), Hong Kong actor
Kenneth Mackintosh (1875–1957), justice of the Washington Supreme Court
Kenneth McClintock (b. 1957), former Secretary of State of Puerto Rico
Kenneth McDavid, American murder victim
Kenneth McDuff (1946–1998), American serial killer
Kenneth McKellar (1869–1957), American politician
Kenneth McKellar (1927–2010), Scottish singer
Kenneth Meers (1960–1992), American murder victim
Kenneth Barbour Montgomery (1897–1965), English World War I flying ace
Kenneth More (1914–1982), English actor (Genevieve, Reach for the Sky)
Kenneth Murdock (born 1963), Canadian truck driver who was a hitman for the Musitano crime family of Hamilton, Ontario
Kenneth Murray (disambiguation), multiple people
Kenneth O'Donnell (1924–1977), American political aide
Kenneth O'Keefe (b. 1969), American-Irish-Palestinian activist
Kenneth Roderick O'Neal (1908–1989), African-American architect
Kenneth Odumegwu (born 2000), Nigerian-American football player
Kenneth A. Oye (b. 1949), Associate Professor of Political Science and Engineering Systems, MIT
Kenneth Parnell (1931–2008), American convicted sex offender, child rapist, and kidnapper
Kenneth Paschal (born 1966), American politician
Kenneth Perez (b. 1974), Danish footballer
Kenneth Lee Pike (1912–2000), American linguist and anthropologist
Kenneth Platts (1946–1989), British composer
Kenneth Ramchand (b. 1939), Trinidad and Tobago academic and writer
Kenneth Rexroth (1905–1982), American poet
Kenneth Robinson (British politician) (1911–1996), British politician and broadcaster
Kenneth Rose (1924–2014), royal biographer
Kenneth Ross, Scottish-American screenwriter of the films The Day of the Jackal, The Odessa File, etc.
Kenneth G. Ross (b. 1941), Australian playwright, and screenwriter of the film Breaker Morant
Kenneth Schellenberger (b. 1948), Canadian politician
Kenneth Searight (1883–1957), British writer and linguist
Kenneth Shaw ("Buzz" Shaw) (b. 1939), American academic, college chancellor
Kenneth Slessor (1901–1971), Australian poet
Kenneth Starr (1946–2022), American lawyer, special investigator of U.S. President Bill Clinton
Kenneth M. Taylor (1919–2006), American WWII pilot
Kenneth Thomson, 2nd Baron Thomson of Fleet (1923–2006), Canadian businessman, billionaire
Kenneth Tigar (b. 1942), American actor
Kenneth Tiong (b. 1989), Singaporean businessman and politician
Kenneth Tolon II (b. 1981), college football player
Kenneth Tynan (1927–1980), English theatre critic and writer
Kenneth Vance, American politician
Kenneth N. Waltz (1924–2013), American political scientist
Kenneth Warren (1926–2019), British Conservative Party politician
Kenneth Welsh (1942–2022), Canadian actor
Kenneth Williams (1926–1988), English comedian and actor
Kenneth G. Wilson (1936–2013), American theoretical physicist, winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics, 1982

Fictional characters

Kenneth Widmerpool, in Anthony Powell's novel sequence A Dance to the Music of Time
Kenneth Parcell, in the sitcom 30 Rock

References

↑ Hanks, Patrick; Hardcastle, Kate; Hodges, Flavia (2006), A dictionary of first names, Oxford Paperback Reference (2nd ed.), Oxford University Press, pp. 157–158, 343, 401, ISBN 978-0-19-861060-1
↑ Busse, Peter E. (2006), "Cinaed mac Ailpín", in Koch, John T. (ed.), Celtic culture: a historical encyclopedia, ABC-CLIO, p. 438, ISBN 1-85109-445-8
↑ Rhys, Guto. "Approaching the Pictish language: historiography, early evidence and the question of Pritenic" (PDF). University of Glasgow.

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[1] Hanks, Patrick; Hardcastle, Kate; Hodges, Flavia (2006), A dictionary of first names, Oxford Paperback Reference (2nd ed.), Oxford University Press, pp. 157–158, 343, 401, ISBN 978-0-19-861060-1

[2] Busse, Peter E. (2006), "Cinaed mac Ailpín", in Koch, John T. (ed.), Celtic culture: a historical encyclopedia, ABC-CLIO, p. 438, ISBN 1-85109-445-8

[UGlas-3] Rhys, Guto. "Approaching the Pictish language: historiography, early evidence and the question of Pritenic" (PDF). University of Glasgow.

v t e Irish-language given names
Native masculine names	Ailill Aodh Aodhán Aonghus Art Breandán Breasal Brian Cainneach Cairbre Caoimhín Cathal Cearbhall Cian Cianán Ciarán Cinnéididh Coileán Colm Conaire Conall Conán Conchobhar Cormac Criofan Dáire Deaglán Diarmaid Dónall Donn Donnchadh Dubhghall Eachann Éibhear Eochaidh Eoghan Fearghal Fearghus Féilim Fiach Fínín Fionn Fionnbharr Fionntán Flann Garaidh Iarlaith Lorcán Lughaidh Muircheartach Muiredach Muirgheas Murchadh Niall Odhrán Oisín Oscar Rian Rónán Ruairí Tadhg Toirdhealbhach
Native feminine names	Aifric Áine Aisling Aodhnait Aoibheann Aoife Barrdhubh Bébhinn Bríd Cacht Caoimhe Ciara Clíona Cobhlaith Dearbháil Dearbhfhorghaill Deirbhile Deirdre Dubhchobhlaigh Éadaoin Eithne Feidhealm Fíneamhain Fíona Fionnuala Forbflaith Gormfhlaith Gráinne Íde Lasairfhíona Méabh Mór Muireann Muirgheal Niamh Nuala Órlaith Róisín Sadhbh Saoirse Síothmhaith Sláine Sorcha Úna
Germanic-derived masculine names	Amhlaoibh Annraoi Éamonn Gearóid Gofraid Íomhar Lochlann Liam Maghnus Raghnall Risteárd Roibeárd Séarlas Somhairle Tiobóid Ualtar
Bible-derived masculine names	Abracham Ádhamh Árón Biniáimin Daibhí Dainéal Eafráim Gaibrial Íosac Iósua Irimia Maitiú Maois Mícheál (Maidhc) Parthalán Samúéil Séamus Seán Seosamh Síomón Solamh Tomás
Bible-derived feminine names	Aibigeál Ánna Éabha Eilís Léá Madailéin Máire Mallaidh Náoimí Ráichéal Ríobhca Rút Seacailín Seosaimhín Sinéad Siobhán
Latin/Greek-derived masculine names	Aindréas Antóin Críostóir Damhnaic Pádraig Proinsias Giolla Críost Gréagóir Labhrás León Máirtín Marcas Nioclás Nollaig Peadar Pilib Pól Seoirse Stiofán Téadóir Uinseann
Latin/Greek-derived feminine names	Agata Aignéas Bairbre Caitlín Caitríona Claire Léan Luíseach Máiréad Muinice Onóra Pádraigín Séarlait Síle Treasa Tríona
See also	Goidelic languages Irish language Scottish Gaelic language Manx language Irish name List of Scottish Gaelic given names Scottish Gaelic name Irish genealogy

Origin
Pronunciation	/ˈkɛnɪθ/ KEN-ith
Gender	Masculine
Language	English
Language	Scottish Gaelic
Meaning	'Handsome', 'fire-born'
Other names
Short form	Ken
Related names	Cainnech/Coinneach, Cináed

Kenneth

Etymology

People

Fictional characters

See also

References