surnames.ie

Irish surname · 75th most common in 1911

McKenna

Also spelt MacKenna

McKenna, also spelt MacKenna, is the English form of Mac Cionaoith, 'son of Cionaodh', the Irish equivalent of Kenneth. The best-known family were lords of Truagh in north Co. Monaghan. Smaller families of the name lived in Roscommon and in Munster, where the Irish form became Mag Cineáit.

Irish Mac CionaoithIrish Mac CionnaithIrish Mag Cineáit
1901 census
9,018
#71 · 20 per 10,000
1911 census
8,571
#75 · 20 per 10,000
1926 census
4,981
#106 · 17 per 10,000
Most numerous
Monaghan
Highest share: Monaghan

Language & meaning

Meaning & Irish forms

Gaelic Gaelic Irish: chiefly the family of the lords of Truagh in Co. Monaghan, with smaller unrelated families in Roscommon and Munster.[1][2]

Mac Cionaoith
“son of Cionaodh”[3][1][4]
The main Irish form in the Gaois surname data. Woulfe heads his entry Mac Cionaodha or Mac Cionaoith. A woman uses Nic Chionaoith, as in the Irish name of the actress Charlene McKenna.
Mac Cionnaith
“son of Cionaodh”[3][5]
Gaois lists it as a historical spelling. Wikipedia gives Seán Mac Cionnaith as the Irish name of the Chilean general Juan Mackenna.
Mag Cineáit
“son of Cionaodh”[6][1]
The spoken Munster form in Kerry, Cork and Limerick. Woulfe regarded it as a corruption of Mac Cionaoith: popularly anglicised Ginnaw, it was written MacKenna in official records.

The name is built on the personal name Cionaodh (Cináed), usually explained as “born of fire”. Wikipedia gives Cináed, anglicised Kenneth, as 'born of fire'; Woulfe glosses Cionaodh as 'fire-sprung'. The same personal name lies behind Ó Cionaodha, a different surname usually anglicised Kenny.[7][8]

Pronunciation

McKenna: muh-KEN-uh

Place

Where the McKennas lived

How common the name was in each county, as a share of the population, in the three surviving full censuses of Ireland. Use the buttons to compare years.

Donegal: 4.3 per 10,000 (72 people) Waterford: 3.2 per 10,000 (26 people) Dublin: 13.6 per 10,000 (652 people) Kilkenny: 4.8 per 10,000 (36 people) Carlow: 4.4 per 10,000 (16 people) Limerick: 4.7 per 10,000 (68 people) Louth: 51.4 per 10,000 (324 people) Tipperary: 6.5 per 10,000 (99 people) Roscommon: 3.8 per 10,000 (36 people) Meath: 30.7 per 10,000 (200 people) Wicklow: 2.3 per 10,000 (14 people) Cavan: 20.1 per 10,000 (184 people) Cork: 1.4 per 10,000 (57 people) Clare: 6.9 per 10,000 (72 people) Galway: 0.6 per 10,000 (11 people) Mayo: 4.4 per 10,000 (85 people) Sligo: 3.7 per 10,000 (29 people) Leitrim: 20.6 per 10,000 (130 people) Offaly: 3 per 10,000 (17 people) Laois: 4.9 per 10,000 (27 people) Kildare: 7.2 per 10,000 (48 people) Kerry: 33.1 per 10,000 (529 people) Monaghan: 269.7 per 10,000 (1,929 people) Wexford: 1 per 10,000 (10 people) Longford: 48.4 per 10,000 (212 people) Westmeath: 7.3 per 10,000 (44 people) Tyrone: 74.5 per 10,000 (1,064 people) Antrim: 18.8 per 10,000 (897 people) Armagh: 39.8 per 10,000 (476 people) Fermanagh: 30 per 10,000 (182 people) Londonderry: 51.9 per 10,000 (725 people) Down: 9.8 per 10,000 (300 people)
fewerup to 302 per 10,000

Share of each county's census population. 1926 covers the 26 counties of the Irish Free State only.

Highest concentration · 1911

Monaghan

270 per 10,000

1,929 McKennas · 13.81× the national share

Highest share, 1911

  1. Monaghan 270
  2. Tyrone 75
  3. Londonderry 52
  4. Louth 51
  5. Longford 48
  6. Armagh 40
  7. Kerry 33
  8. Meath 31

Per 10,000 residents. A concentration index above 1 means the name was commoner there than nationally.

County figures as a table
County190119111926Per 10k 1901Per 10k 1911Per 10k 1926
Antrim874897—1919—
Armagh518476—4240—
Carlow181628548
Cavan213184191222023
Clare847270877
Cork435766112
Donegal947279545
Down313300—1110—
Dublin656652712151414
Fermanagh177182—2730—
Galway111121111
Kerry604529453363330
Kildare3448596710
Kilkenny443646657
Laois342729656
Leitrim145130136212124
Limerick666859554
Londonderry764725—5352—
Longford219212185474847
Louth356324308555149
Mayo658564344
Meath183200213263134
Monaghan2,0671,9291,965278270302
Offaly251736437
Roscommon423637444
Sligo212932345
Tipperary519989376
Tyrone1,2081,064—8075—
Waterford312615432
Westmeath234452479
Wexford15108111
Wicklow201428325

Local strongholds in 1911

District Electoral Divisions (300+ residents) where McKennas made up the largest share of the population. In Bragan, Co. Monaghan, about one resident in 2 was a McKenna.

DEDCountyMcKennasShare
BraganMonaghan239 42.7%
ShanmullaghMonaghan136 29.9%
DerrygorryMonaghan136 27.6%
Anketell GroveMonaghan198 19.3%
KillyloughMonaghan145 19.1%
FigullarMonaghan103 16.4%
TedavnetMonaghan166 15.9%
TullykeeranLondonderry214 15.1%

Origins

Septs & territories

Many Irish surnames were adopted independently by unrelated families. These are the distinct McKenna lineages described in the sources.

A surname can point you towards a place. On its own, it cannot establish a pedigree.

Mac Cionaoith of Truagh

An Triúcha (Truagh or Trough), north Co. Monaghan · Monaghan

The leading McKenna family, chiefs of the barony of Truagh, south of the Ulster Blackwater on the Tyrone border. Woulfe notes that, although lords in Monaghan, they belonged by descent to the southern Uí Néill. Wikipedia's Emyvale article says the family arrived in the 8th century and by the 12th held an independent túath that lasted about 450 years.[1][2][9]

Mac Cionaoith of Roscommon

Co. Roscommon · Roscommon

A separate family that Woulfe describes as followers of the O'Connors. He gives no further detail.[1]

Mag Cineáit of Munster

Kerry, Cork and Limerick, with Ginnane in parts of Clare · Kerry, Cork, Limerick, Clare

Woulfe calls this a well-known Munster surname and explains it as a spoken corruption of Mac Cionaoith, shown by the older English forms. It was popularly anglicised Ginnaw and in parts of Clare Ginnane, but officially recorded as MacKenna.[6][1]

The name over time

History

Son of Kenneth

McKenna is a patronymic: Mac Cionaoith means 'son of Cionaodh', a personal name written Cináed in older Irish and usually rendered Kenneth in English. Wikipedia explains it as 'born of fire', and Woulfe glosses the name as 'fire-sprung'. Woulfe gathered early English renderings such as M'Kinna, M'Kenay and M'Kena alongside MacKinney, MacKenny and MacKenna, and noted that the name could even end up as plain Kenny. The surname Ó Cionaodha, from the same personal name, is a different family name and is usually anglicised Kenny.[1][8][7]

Lords of Truagh

The McKennas' homeland was Truagh, in Irish An Triúcha, a name from the old Irish unit of land called a trícha cét or cantred. It lies in the far north of Co. Monaghan, south of the Ulster Blackwater, with Tyrone on two sides, and includes the villages of Emyvale and Glaslough. Woulfe records the McKennas as chiefs of the barony, and notes that by descent they belonged to the southern Uí Néill. Wikipedia's Emyvale article dates their arrival to the 8th century.[2][1][9]

A Monaghan lordship

Wikipedia's Emyvale article says that by the 12th century the McKennas had set up an independent túath in north Monaghan that endured for roughly four and a half centuries. Most of the surrounding country was ruled by the MacMahons, kings of Oriel. When Rossa Buidhe MacMahon surrendered his lands to the Crown and received them back, they became Co. Monaghan, divided into five baronies. Four were held by MacMahons, while Truagh remained with the McKennas.[9][10]

Roscommon and Munster McKennas

Woulfe describes two other McKenna families with no stated link to Truagh. One lived in Co. Roscommon as followers of the O'Connors. The other belonged to Munster, where Mac Cionaoith was worn down in speech to Mag Cineáit. In Kerry, Cork and Limerick this was commonly said and written Ginnaw, and in parts of Clare it became Ginnane, while officials wrote it MacKenna. Woulfe pointed to the older anglicised forms in those counties as proof of the true origin.[1][6]

General Mackenna of Chile

The most celebrated McKenna abroad was John MacKenna, born at Clogher, Co. Tyrone, in 1771 to a family from Willville House near Monaghan. With the help of his uncle, the Spanish general Alejandro O'Reilly, he trained as a military engineer in Barcelona and served Spain before going to South America. As Juan Mackenna he governed Osorno, joined the Chilean independence movement alongside Bernardo O'Higgins and won the Battle of Membrillar in 1814. Exiled after a coup, he died in Buenos Aires that year following a duel with Luis Carrera. His bust was presented to Monaghan County Museum in 2004.[5]

Places linked to the name

  • Truagh (Trough) (An Triúcha), Co. Monaghan — The barony ruled by the McKenna chiefs, in the far north of the county.[2][1]
  • Emyvale (Scairbh na gCaorach), Co. Monaghan — Village in Truagh whose Wikipedia article dates the McKennas' arrival in the district to the 8th century.[9]
  • Monaghan, Co. Monaghan — Willville House near the town was the family home of General Juan Mackenna, whose bust is in Monaghan County Museum.[5]

Everyday lives

The McKennas in the census

Who the McKennas were in the 1901 and 1911 censuses (and 1926 where recorded), set against everyone in Ireland in the same census.

McKennas All of Ireland Ireland's figure marked on the McKenna bar

Religion, 1911

Catholic +22.9 points vs Ireland
McKennas 96.5%
All of Ireland 73.6%
Church of Ireland −10.6 points vs Ireland
McKennas 2.6%
All of Ireland 13.2%
Presbyterian −9.5 points vs Ireland
McKennas 0.6%
All of Ireland 10.1%
Methodist & other −2.9 points vs Ireland
McKennas 0.2%
All of Ireland 3.1%

Irish language

Spoke Irish, 1901 −5.7 points vs Ireland
McKennas 9.6%
All of Ireland 15.3%
Spoke Irish, 1911 −4.6 points vs Ireland
McKennas 8.9%
All of Ireland 13.5%
Spoke Irish, 1926 · 26 counties −4.2 points vs Ireland
McKennas 9.3%
All of Ireland 13.5%

34 McKennas spoke Irish only in 1901.

Reading & writing

Could read and write, 1901 · aged 15+ −4.9 points vs Ireland
McKennas 75.5%
All of Ireland 80.4%
Could read and write, 1911 · aged 15+ −3.6 points vs Ireland
McKennas 82.2%
All of Ireland 85.8%

Family life, 1911

Household size · 1,926 households lower than Ireland
McKennas 4.45
All of Ireland 4.83
Children born per mother · women 45–59 lower than Ireland
McKennas 6.26
All of Ireland 6.46
Children still living +1.0 points vs Ireland
McKennas 80.8%
All of Ireland 79.8%

Commonest occupations

Adults aged 15+, 1901 and 1911 combined.

Farmer2,256
Farmer's son822
Farmer's daughter410
Farm servant303
General labourer280
House keeper194
Agricultural labourer190
Labourer183
Seamstress181
Domestic servant174

Born outside Ireland

3.5% of McKennas in 1911 gave a birthplace outside Ireland.

England207
Scotland53
United States27
Australia & NZ5
Wales1
India1

Median age: 25 in 1901, 27 in 1911.

Given names

First names among the McKennas

Men and boys

  1. John1,646
  2. Patrick1,639
  3. James1,273
  4. Michael664
  5. Thomas585
  6. Peter467
  7. Francis427
  8. Bernard324
  9. Owen307
  10. Edward287

Women and girls

  1. Mary1,701
  2. Bridget809
  3. Catherine704
  4. Margaret550
  5. Ellen548
  6. Annie466
  7. Maggie298
  8. Sarah284
  9. Anne272
  10. Kate271

All three censuses combined. Top five in 1926: Patrick, John, James, Michael, Thomas; Mary, Bridget, Margaret, Annie, Catherine.

Spellings

Spellings

This page combines the spellings below, which census enumerators and families used for the same name.

Spelling190119111926Records
McKenna8,9898,4854,952Search
MacKenna298629Search

Related forms

  • MacKenna, Mackenna — Fuller spellings of the same name, merged with McKenna on this site.[1][11]
  • MacKinney, MacKenny, MacKeany — Other English forms Woulfe records for Mac Cionaoith.[1]
  • Kenny — Woulfe notes Mac Cionaoith sometimes became Kenny, though most Kennys come from Ó Cionaodha.[1][8]
  • Ginnaw, Ginnane — Munster forms of Mag Cineáit, a spoken variant of the same name.[6]
  • MacKenzie — Usually a different, Scottish name, Mac Coinnigh, but Woulfe says its English forms became impossible to separate from Mac Cionaoith in Ireland.[12]

Diaspora

The McKennas abroad

Emigration carried the name worldwide. In the 2010 United States census:

SpellingPeopleUS rank
McKenna27,2931284th
MacKenna19892719th

Source: US Census Bureau, 2010 surname file (public domain).

Heraldry

Is there a McKenna coat of arms?

Arms were granted to particular families, so there is no crest for everyone named McKenna. Burke's General Armory records arms for the Mac Kenna sept of Trough, Co. Monaghan: on green, a silver horizontal band between three gold lions' heads shown full-face, with a salmon as the crest. Burke gives no motto for this entry.[13]

Websites selling a single “McKenna family crest” are selling a design, not an inheritance. Arms in Ireland belonged to individuals and their heirs, and the Chief Herald of Ireland still grants arms that way today.

People

Notable people named McKenna

  • Juan Mackenna (1771–1814)
    Tyrone-born engineer and general, a hero of the Chilean War of Independence.
  • Benjamín Vicuña Mackenna (1831–1886)
    Chilean historian, journalist and politician, grandson of General Juan Mackenna.
  • Joseph McKenna (1843–1926)
    American congressman, Attorney General and Associate Justice of the US Supreme Court.
  • Reginald McKenna (1863–1943)
    British Liberal politician and banker who served as First Lord of the Admiralty.
  • Stephen MacKenna (1872–1934)
    Journalist and linguist of Irish descent, known for his English translation of Plotinus.
  • Siobhán McKenna (1922–1986)
    Actress who began at Galway's Irish-language theatre and won fame as Shaw's Saint Joan at the Abbey.
  • T. P. McKenna (1929–2011)
    Irish actor with a long career on stage, film and television.
  • Virginia McKenna (born 1931)
    British actress of Born Free and A Town Like Alice, later an animal-welfare campaigner.
  • Barney McKenna (1939–2012)
    Tenor-banjo player and founding member of The Dubliners.
  • Frank McKenna (born 1948)
    Canadian businessman, politician and diplomat, later chair of Brookfield Corporation.
  • Patricia McKenna (born 1957)
    Green Party MEP for Dublin from 1994 to 2004.
  • Kieran McKenna (born 1986)
    Football manager raised in Northern Ireland, best known for his years in charge of Ipswich Town.

Questions

Questions about the McKenna name

Is McKenna an Irish surname?

Yes. McKenna is the English form of the Gaelic Mac Cionaoith, 'son of Cionaodh'. Its principal family were the lords of Truagh in north Co. Monaghan. Woulfe also records McKennas in Roscommon, followers of the O'Connors, and in Munster, where the name was spoken as Mag Cineáit. Wiktionary mentions a Scottish Gaelic connection too, so a few families may have come from Scotland.[1][6][11]

What is McKenna in Irish?

The usual modern Irish form is Mac Cionaoith, and a woman uses Nic Chionaoith. Older or alternative spellings include Mac Cionaodha and Mac Cionnaith. In Munster the spoken form was Mag Cineáit. All mean 'son of Cionaodh', the Irish name usually rendered Kenneth.[3][1][4][6]

Are McKenna and MacKenna the same name?

Yes. Mc and Mac are simply two ways of writing the Irish Mac, 'son of'. McKenna, MacKenna and Mackenna all represent Mac Cionaoith, and this site counts them together. The difference is one of spelling, not of origin, so the form on a record does not show which branch a family came from.[1][11]

How do you pronounce McKenna?

It is said 'muh-KEN-uh', with the stress on the middle syllable; Wiktionary gives /məˈkɛnə/. MacKenna and Mackenna are pronounced the same way. In Munster the spoken Irish form Mag Cineáit sounded different enough that it was popularly written Ginnaw, even though officials still recorded it as MacKenna.[11][6]

Where does the McKenna name come from?

The main McKenna family ruled Truagh, a barony in the far north of Co. Monaghan on the Tyrone border, around Emyvale and Glaslough. Woulfe says they belonged to the southern Uí Néill even though their lordship lay in Monaghan. Separate McKenna families lived in Roscommon and in Kerry, Cork and Limerick.[1][2][6]

Is there a McKenna family crest or coat of arms?

Burke's General Armory records arms for the Mac Kenna sept of Trough, Co. Monaghan: a silver band between three gold lions' heads on green, with a salmon for the crest. These belonged to that family's chiefs rather than to every McKenna, and Burke records no motto for them.[13]

Where in Ireland is the McKenna surname most common?

In the 1911 census the largest numbers of McKennas lived in Monaghan (1,929), Tyrone (1,064), Antrim (897). Relative to population, the name was most concentrated in Monaghan (270 per 10,000), Tyrone (75 per 10,000), Londonderry (52 per 10,000).

How common was the McKenna surname in Ireland?

8,571 people were recorded as McKenna or MacKenna in the 1911 census of Ireland, making it the 75th most common surname. That is roughly 0.2% of the population, or 1 person in 513.

Looking for a McKenna ancestor?

Search every McKenna household in the 1901, 1911 and 1926 censuses, with free images of the original forms.

Search records on irishcensus.com

Evidence

Sources

  1. Patrick Woulfe, Mac Cionaodha, Mac Cionaoith, in Irish Names and Surnames (1923)
  2. Wikipedia, Truagh (barony) (2026)
  3. Gaois research group, Dublin City University, Sloinnte: Irish surname data (version 2) (2022). Cluster 'Cionaodh': Mac Cionaoith (historical Mac Cionnaith); McKenna, McKenny, McKinney.
  4. Wikipedia, Charlene McKenna (2026)
  5. Wikipedia, Juan Mackenna (2026)
  6. Patrick Woulfe, Mag Cineáit, in Irish Names and Surnames (1923)
  7. Wikipedia, McKenna (name) (2026)
  8. Patrick Woulfe, Ó Cionaodha, in Irish Names and Surnames (1923)
  9. Wikipedia, Emyvale (2026)
  10. Wikipedia, McMahon clans (2026)
  11. Wiktionary, McKenna (2026)
  12. Patrick Woulfe, Mac Coinnigh, in Irish Names and Surnames (1923)
  13. Sir Bernard Burke, The General Armory of England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales (1884). Entry 'Mac Kenna (Trough, co. Monaghan; the Sept of Mac Cionaith)'.
  14. Census of Ireland 1901 and 1911, and Census of Population 1926, National Archives of Ireland. Counts compiled by surnames.ie from the irishcensus.com transcription (dataset 20260831130351). 1926 data © National Archives of Ireland, CC BY 4.0.

How we compile these figures: methodology.