[2][3] This Irish name is composed of two elements: the first, ceann "head"; the second, éidigh "ugly".

[3] According to Patrick Woulfe, who wrote in the early 19th century, Kennedy is an anglicised form the Irish Cinnéididh and Cinnéidigh.

[4] As a masculine given name, Kennedy can be rendered into Irish as Cinnéididh and Cinnéidigh,[3][4] and into Latin as Kinnedius.

[9] In the United States of America, Kennedy, has been among the top 1,000 names recorded in Social Security card applications, in the last 10 years, for both baby boys and girls.

At its height, Kennedy was ranked the 516th most popular masculine baby name in 1964.