Kenny is a surname, a given name, and a diminutive of several different given names.

In Ireland, the surname is an Anglicisation of the Irish Ó Cionnaith, also spelt Ó Cionnaoith and Ó Cionaodha, meaning "descendant of Cionnaith". It was once popular in the 16th-century in Leinster, Munster, parts of Connacht and in County Tyrone in Ulster, and was Anglicised as O'Kenna, O'Kenny, O'Kinney, Kenna, Kenney, Kenny, and Kinney amongst other variations.[1]

One bearer of the name was Cainnech of Aghaboe, better known in English as Saint Canice - a sixth-century Irish priest and missionary from near Dungiven, after whom the city and county of Kilkenny is also named. The Irish form Cill Chainnigh means "Church of Canice".

It is thought that the Ó Cionnaith sept was part of the Uí Maine kingdom, based in Connacht. Within this area, the name is associated traditionally with counties Galway and Roscommon.

Kenny is ranked at number 76 in the list of the most common surnames in Ireland.[2] Other spellings include O'Kenny, Kenney, Kennie, Kinnie and Kinny.

The given name, Kenny, is most often used as a short form of the name Kenneth and a diminutive form of Ken.

Given name

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Surname

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Fictional characters

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Library Ireland". Retrieved 6 May 2020.
  2. ^ "GulliverIreland.com". goireland.com.
  • Genealogies of Kenny and Lysaght by Cecil Stacpoole Kenny 1915, NLI, Dublin, Ireland