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Home › Baby Names Directory › Kennede

Kennede

♀ Girl

How to Pronounce Kennede

Pronounced KEN-uh-dee /ˈkɛnədi/High

Meaning: Kennede is a simplified respelling of Kennedy, an Anglicised form of the Irish surname O Cinneide. The root combines ceann, 'head', with a word for 'helmeted' or, less flatteringly, 'ugly', so it is usually read as 'helmeted head' or 'rough-headed'. Dropping the final -y gives the name a softer, more first-name look while keeping the sound.Medium

In 30 seconds: Kennede is a modern respelling of the Irish surname-name Kennedy, meaning 'helmeted head', used for a scattering of American girls in the two-thousands (say KEN-uh-dee).
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Origin MediumIrish
MeaningKennede is a simplified respelling of Kennedy, an Anglicised form of the Irish surname O Cinneide. The root combines ceann, 'head', with a word for 'helmeted' or, less flatteringly, 'ugly', so it is usually read as 'helmeted head' or 'rough-headed'. Dropping the final -y gives the name a softer, more first-name look while keeping the sound.
U.S. rank (2017)#15046 ↘ Falling
2017 U.S. births6 girls (0.00% of U.S. girls)
Peak year2001
Total births (all-time)≈ 141

Popularity in the U.S. · SSA data

peak 200119962017

U.S. births per year (Social Security Administration, 1880–present). Pink marker = peak year.

SSA data updated May 2026. How we source & verify this data.

History & Origin

Kennede reworks Kennedy, the Anglicised Irish surname O Cinneide built on ceann, 'head'. As Kennedy climbed as a girl's given name in the early two-thousands, inventive spellings like Kennede followed, trimming the ending to make it look more like a first name than a family one.

The trimmed spelling never caught on the way Kennedy itself did: Kennede drew only a couple dozen girls a year even at its early-2000s peak and quickly faded. A girl given it then is a young adult now, from the wave when surname-names for daughters and creative respellings were both in full swing.

Did you know? Kennedy began as an Irish family name meaning 'helmeted head' and only became a popular girl's first name in America generations after the surname was famous.
Overall data confidence 60%
References - Kennede — Respelling of Kennedy; Irish O Cinneide 'helmeted head'

Variations

KennedyKennediKennadieKenadee

Nicknames

KennyKennaNedi

Famous Bearers

  • Famous bearers coming soon.

If you like Kennede…

Kennedy— the standard surname-name this spelling reworks
Everly— another surname-style girl's name of the same wave
Brinley— a modern coined name with the same trendy sound
Adalyn— a girl's name popular in the same respelling-friendly years

Explore names like Kennede

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Frequently Asked

What does the name Kennede mean?

It carries the meaning of Kennedy, an Irish surname read as 'helmeted head'.

How do you pronounce Kennede?

It's said KEN-uh-dee /ˈkɛnədi/, three syllables, stress on the first.

Is Kennede a boy or girl name?

Kennede is used as a girl's name.

Is Kennede a popular name?

No, it stayed rare, a creative respelling of Kennedy seen only briefly in the early two-thousands.

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