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    The surname Kennedy

    An Irish surname, carried by 176,865 people in the United States.

    Pronounced /ˈkɛnədi/ 3 syllables Soundex K530 Also a first name

    Kennedy: #146 of 162,253 surnames in the 2010 US Census #1Smith#160,975Doriott#10Martinez#1,000Archer#10,001Dubon Kennedy #146, 176,865 people Kennedy: #146 of 162,253 surnames in the 2010 US Census #1Smith#160,975Doriott#1,000Archer Kennedy #146, 176,865 people
    Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Kennedy is more common than 99.9% of them.

    Origin

    Irish origin

    Borrowed from Irish Ó Cinnéidigh (ceann (“head”) + éidigh (“ugly”)) or Scottish Gaelic Ceannaideach (ceann (“head”) + aideach (“ugly”). Compare Kenneth and Irish eitigh (“refuse, reject”).

    One of 880 Irish surnames on this site.

    Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

    How common it is

    2010 US Census

    There were 176,865 people named Kennedy in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 1,746 Americans. That is up 3.0% since 2000, when the Census counted 171,636.

    #146
    rank among US surnames
    176,865
    people in 2010
    60
    per 100,000 Americans
    +3%
    change since 2000 (was #130)
    RankSurnamePeople1 in
    #137Ford184,8321,670
    #138Castro184,1341,677
    #139Marshall183,9221,679
    #140Owens182,7191,690
    #141Harrison181,0911,705
    #142Fernandez180,8421,707
    #143McDonald180,4971,711

    Who is named Kennedy

    Race and Hispanic origin as people reported it in the 2010 Census

    81% of people named Kennedy identified as white (not Hispanic), 14% as Black (not Hispanic) and 2.5% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

    • White (not Hispanic) 81%
    • Black (not Hispanic) 14%
    • Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.5%
    • Two or more races 1.9%
    • Asian and Pacific Islander 0.6%
    • American Indian and Alaska Native 0.6%

    Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

    Famous Kennedys

    94 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

    • Robert F. Kennedy
      American politician and lawyer (1925–1968)
    • George Kennedy
      American actor (1925–2016)
    • Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
      26th United States Secretary of Health and Human Services since 2025
    • Caroline Kennedy
      American author and diplomat (born 1957)
    • Joshua Kennedy
      Australian association football player, born 1982
    • John F. Kennedy Jr.
      American attorney and magazine publisher (1960–1999)
    • Joseph P. Kennedy Sr.
      American businessman, politician and diplomat (1888–1969)
    • Arthur Kennedy
      American actor (1914–1990)
    • Anthony Kennedy
      Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1988 to 2018
    • Kathleen Kennedy
      American film producer (born 1953)
    • Rose Kennedy
      American philanthropist and Kennedy family matriarch (1890–1995)
    • Jamie Kennedy
      American actor and comedian, born 1970

    Notable Kennedys come mostly from the United States (77), Australia (11) and the United Kingdom (2).

    Spellings and sound-alikes

    Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

    Variant spellings

    • Cannedy
    • Kennady

    Surnames that sound like Kennedy

    Kennedy has the Soundex code K530, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code K530.

    Other Irish surnames

    All 880 Irish surnames

    Questions

    Where does the surname Kennedy come from?
    Borrowed from Irish Ó Cinnéidigh (ceann (“head”) + éidigh (“ugly”)) or Scottish Gaelic Ceannaideach (ceann (“head”) + aideach (“ugly”). Compare Kenneth and Irish eitigh (“refuse, reject”).
    How common is the surname Kennedy?
    176,865 people in the United States had the surname Kennedy in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 1,746 Americans. It ranked 146th of 162,253 surnames.
    What ethnicity is the surname Kennedy?
    In the 2010 Census, 81% of people named Kennedy identified as white (not Hispanic), and 14% as Black (not Hispanic).
    Who is the most famous person named Kennedy?
    Robert F. Kennedy, American politician and lawyer (1925–1968), followed by George Kennedy.
    Where is the surname Kennedy most common?
    Wikidata records people named Kennedy in the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom and 3 other countries.
    How do you pronounce Kennedy?
    Kennedy is /ˈkɛnədi/, 3 syllables.
    Is the surname Kennedy getting more or less common?
    More common. 171,636 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 176,865 in 2010, up 3.0%.
    What are other spellings of Kennedy?
    Cannedy and Kennady.
    Is Kennedy also a first name?
    Yes. Kennedy is used as a first name as well as a surname; its first-name page has the meaning and how many babies were given it.