Where does the surname McKenzie come from?

McKenzie is Scottish Gaelic in origin.

How common is the surname McKenzie?

59,595 people in the United States had the surname McKenzie in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 5,181 Americans. It ranked 563rd of 162,253 surnames.

Who is the most famous person named McKenzie?

Ben McKenzie, American actor (born 1978), followed by Mark McKenzie.

Where is the surname McKenzie most common?

Wikidata records people named McKenzie in the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom and 1 other country.

Is the surname McKenzie getting more or less common?

More common. 55,084 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 59,595 in 2010, up 8.2%.

Is McKenzie also a first name?

Yes. McKenzie 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.

The surname McKenzie

A Scottish Gaelic surname, carried by 59,595 people in the United States.

3 syllables Soundex M252 Also a first name

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). McKenzie is more common than 99.7% of them.

Origin

Scottish Gaelic origin

A Scottish surname from Scottish Gaelic, variant of MacKenzie.

One of 277 Scottish Gaelic surnames on this site.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 59,595 people named McKenzie in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 5,181 Americans. That is up 8.2% since 2000, when the Census counted 55,084.

#563

rank among US surnames

59,595

people in 2010

per 100,000 Americans

+8.2%

change since 2000 (was #544)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#554	Burnett	60,791	5,079
#555	Mercado	60,761	5,081
#556	Santana	60,667	5,089
#557	Shepherd	60,479	5,105
#558	Bautista	60,264	5,123
#559	Ali	60,002	5,146
#560	Shaffer	59,943	5,151

Who is named McKenzie

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

65% of people named McKenzie identified as white (not Hispanic), 29% as Black (not Hispanic) and 3.0% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

White (not Hispanic) 65%
Black (not Hispanic) 29%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 3.0%
Two or more races 2.3%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.7%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.7%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous McKenzies

15 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Ben McKenzie
American actor (born 1978)
Mark McKenzie
American soccer player, born 1999
Jacqueline McKenzie
Australian actress, born 1967
Julia McKenzie
British actress, presenter, director, writer, born 1941
Jemma McKenzie-Brown
Actress, singer, dancer, born 1994
Fay McKenzie
American actress (1918-2019)
Kenneth F. McKenzie, Jr.
American Marine Corps general, born 1957
George McKenzie
Boxer (1901-1941)
David McKenzie
Australian cyclist, born 1974
Florence Violet McKenzie
Australian electrical engineer (1890-1982)
Austin P. McKenzie
American stage and screen actor, and sign-language interpreter, born 1993
Hamish McKenzie
Australian cyclist, born 2004

Notable McKenzies come mostly from the United States (6), Australia (6) and the United Kingdom (2).

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like McKenzie

McKenzie has the Soundex code M252, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code M252.

Other Scottish Gaelic surnames

All 277 Scottish Gaelic surnames

Questions

Where does the surname McKenzie come from?: McKenzie is Scottish Gaelic in origin.
How common is the surname McKenzie?: 59,595 people in the United States had the surname McKenzie in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 5,181 Americans. It ranked 563rd of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname McKenzie?: In the 2010 Census, 65% of people named McKenzie identified as white (not Hispanic), and 29% as Black (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named McKenzie?: Ben McKenzie, American actor (born 1978), followed by Mark McKenzie.
Where is the surname McKenzie most common?: Wikidata records people named McKenzie in the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom and 1 other country.
Is the surname McKenzie getting more or less common?: More common. 55,084 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 59,595 in 2010, up 8.2%.
Is McKenzie also a first name?: Yes. McKenzie 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.