The McKenney surname

In the 2010 U.S. Census, 7,265 people carried this name — #4,852 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 40,700 people counted. That is up 6% from 6,862 in 2000.

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Where the name comes from

The origin of the McKenney surname

Variant of McKinney.

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary (en.wiktionary.org) — entry «McKenney» (English), by Wiktionary contributors · licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0) · excerpt, lightly adapted.

In the first U.S. census, 1790

In 1790, McKenney was counted together with McKinney: 160 families in all.

Each family is counted by its head. About 898 people lived in those households, 5.6 to a family on average. The census counted these spellings together: McKinney, McCiney, McCinney, McCinny, McHeney, McHinney, McKeney, McKenney, Mckenney, McKenny, McKiney, McKinna, McKinne, MacKinney, M'Kinney, McKinnie, McKinny, Mckinny, McKiny. The table lists white heads of families only, in the twelve states whose 1790 records survive; Virginia’s figures come from state lists of 1782–1785.

Families, by state

Pennsylvania 36
Maine 25
North Carolina 25
South Carolina 23
New York 16
Virginia 16
Maryland 9
Connecticut 7
Massachusetts 2
New Hampshire 1

U.S. Census Bureau, «A Century of Population Growth from the First Census of the United States to the Twelfth, 1790–1900» (Washington, 1909), table 111, p. 253 — public domain · names carried by at least 100 white persons in 1790.

In print

McKenney in American newspapers,
1896–1913.

Newspaper page from Honolulu Star-bulletin carrying the name McKenney
Honolulu Star-bulletin 1913-12-06
Newspaper page from The News & Observer carrying the name McKenney
The News & Observer 1896-03-20
Newspaper page from Missouri Valley Times carrying the name McKenney
Missouri Valley Times 1899-11-09

Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain · 45,950 pages in all carry the name.

In print

McKenney in Australian newspapers,
1860s–1950s.

802 articles name a Mr, Mrs or Miss McKenney. The most, 131, date from the 1940s. Weighed against how much of each state’s press from the same decades has been digitised, it stands out most in Western Australia, at 3.8 times its expected share.

Articles, by state

Western Australia 275
Queensland 267
New South Wales 132
South Australia 65
Victoria 45
Tasmania 14
ACT (Canberra) 1

Trove, National Library of Australia (trove.nla.gov.au) · articles in its digitised newspapers that name a Mr, Mrs or Miss McKenney.

Who carried it

People named McKenney,
with a public archive behind them.

  • Don McKenney
    Don McKenney 1934–2022 · ice hockey player
  • William Robertson McKenney
    William Robertson McKenney 1851–1916 · politician
  • Thomas L. McKenney
    Thomas L. McKenney 1785–1859 · writer
  • Ruth McKenney 1911–1972 · journalist
  • Joe McKenney 1905–1995 · American football player

Wikidata (CC0) · portraits via Wikimedia Commons, shown cropped, in the public domain or CC0.

In the public record

People named McKenney,
in the records of 4 countries.

Soldiers, farmers, migrants and neighbours who carried the name and left a trace in public archives. Everyone shown here died long ago or was born more than a century ago.

United States827 records

827 records of the McKenney name in the United States
  • U.S. Army enlistment records, World War II 276
  • New York City birth, marriage and death certificates 166
  • U.S. veterans' cemetery records, burials to 2001 136
  • Passenger arrivals in the United States, 1820–1912 126
  • U.S. alien registration index, 1940–1955 44
  • Irish Famine arrivals at New York, 1846–1851 41
  • New York State death index (outside NYC), 1957–2001 34
  • U.S. service members who died in the Vietnam War 3
  • Sacramento County historic burials 1
  1. A United States Selective Service registration card, 1942
    Example: U.S. registration card, 1942
    Military record Richard H. McKenney

    Born 1923 in Minnesota. Enlisted 1944 at Fort Snelling; farmer from Stearns County. U.S. Army Air Forces veteran of World War II; died 1998, buried at Fort Snelling National Cemetery, Minnesota.

    U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain); U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0)
  2. A passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, arriving at New York in 1903
    Example: passenger manifest, 1903
    Passenger record Mary McKenney

    Arrived at New York in 1836 aboard the Colchis from Liverpool, aged 21; laborer. From Monagh, Ireland; bound for New York.

    U.S. National Archives, Castle Garden Immigration Center Collection, Ship Passenger Records (unrestricted)
  3. Names engraved on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Washington, D.C.
    Example: U.S. war memorial
    War record Norman Laforest McKenney

    Born 1939; from Thorndike, Maine. U.S. Navy, electronics technician; killed in action 1968 in Khanh Hoa, South Vietnam.

    U.S. National Archives, Defense Casualty Analysis System (public domain)

Showing 3 of 827 records for McKenney in the United States.

Counts: U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain) · NYC Department of Records & Information Services, Historical Vital Records (NYC Open Data) · U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0) · U.S. National Archives, Castle Garden Immigration Center Collection, Ship Passenger Records (unrestricted) · U.S. National Archives, Flexoline Index Data File (public domain) · U.S. National Archives, Famine Irish Passenger Records (public domain) · New York State Department of Health, Genealogical Research Death Index · U.S. National Archives, Defense Casualty Analysis System (public domain) · Sacramento County, Historic Burials (CC BY 4.0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: U.S. Selective Service registration card, 1942 (public domain); Passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, New York, 1903 (public domain); Vietnam Veterans Memorial, photo by U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Michael J. Carden, 2009 (public domain).

Canada95 records

95 records of the McKenney name in Canada
  • Nova Scotia Archives name indexes 85
  • City of Calgary cemetery records 3
  • Canadian Virtual War Memorial 3
  • Mountain View Cemetery, Vancouver 3
  • City of Winnipeg cemetery records 1
  1. Fairview Lawn Cemetery in Halifax, Nova Scotia
    Example: Canadian cemetery
    Burial record Fred Neil McKenney

    Buried in 1978 at Queen's Park Cemetery, Calgary, Alberta, aged 76.

    City of Calgary. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – City of Calgary.
  2. A page of the Berlin civil register, 1880
    Example: civil register, 1880
    Death record Martha Rachel McKenney

    Died 1939 in Atlantic, Shelburne, Nova Scotia.

    Nova Scotia Archives. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Nova Scotia.
  3. A Canadian First World War grave register card for a soldier who died of wounds in 1917
    Example: Canadian war grave register, 1917
    War record Earl Coleman McKenney

    Died in service in 1918.

    Veterans Affairs Canada. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Canada.

Showing 3 of 95 records for McKenney in Canada.

Counts: Nova Scotia Archives. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Nova Scotia. · City of Calgary. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – City of Calgary. · Veterans Affairs Canada. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Canada. · City of Vancouver. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Vancouver. · City of Winnipeg. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Winnipeg. Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Fairview Lawn Cemetery, Halifax, photo by Edgar El (CC BY 3.0); Civil register, Berlin, 1880, Landesarchiv Berlin (CC0); Canadian First World War circumstances-of-death register (scan by Scottgraham87 via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0).

Australia69 records

69 records of the McKenney name in Australia
  • Victoria passenger lists, 1839–1923 33
  • Queensland State Archives indexes 20
  • Victoria wills and probate, deaths to 2001 9
  • NSW convict, estate and railway indexes 4
  • Tasmanian Names Index 3
  1. An 1829 etching of convicts being rowed out to the prison ship York in Portsmouth Harbour
    Pictured: convicts going on board a prison ship, 1829
    Transportation record John McKenney

    Transported to New South Wales aboard the Clyde, arriving 1838.

    Museums of History NSW – State Archives Collection (CC BY)
  2. A passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, arriving at New York in 1903
    Example: passenger manifest, 1903
    Passenger record John McKenney

    Arrived in Victoria in 1853 aboard the Wee Tottie, aged 34; Irish.

    Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0)
  3. A petition to the probate court of St. Louis, 1848
    Example: probate petition, 1848
    Probate record Bertram Jacob McKenney

    Retired of Morwell, Victoria; died 1976.

    Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0)

Showing 3 of 69 records for McKenney in Australia.

Counts: Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0) · Queensland State Archives (CC BY 4.0) · Museums of History NSW – State Archives Collection (CC BY) · Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Prison-ship in Portsmouth Harbour, with the convicts going on board, etching by Edward William Cooke, 1829, Royal Museums Greenwich (public domain); Passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, New York, 1903 (public domain); Petition to the probate court, St. Louis, 1848, Missouri Historical Society (public domain).

United Kingdom2 records

2 records of the McKenney name in the United Kingdom War Office casualty lists, 1917–1919, among the dead
  1. A First World War roll of honour of the staff of C. & E. Morton Ltd
    Example: roll of honour, 1914–1919
    War record A. McKenney

    Northumberland Fusiliers. Listed among the dead in the War Office casualty list of 1918.

    National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain)
  2. A First World War roll of honour of the staff of C. & E. Morton Ltd
    Example: roll of honour, 1914–1919
    War record J. McKenney

    Manchester Regiment. Listed among the dead in the War Office casualty list of 1918.

    National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain)

Counts: National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: C. & E. Morton Ltd roll of honour, 1914–1919, photo by Adrian S Pye via Geograph (CC BY-SA 2.0).

Nearby in the index

Surnames next to McKenney.

When the index is not enough

This page says where McKenney is.
A volume says what happened to it.

Every page in the index is free and stays free. The Heritage Volume is the long form: the full paper trail, the arms, the crossing — bound, and yours.

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