by Ray Cook

Created on: February 02, 2008

GENDER

Boy's and girl's name.

PRONUNCIATION

ma-KEN-zee

ETYMOLOGY
Mackenzie is the anglicized form of the Irish Gaelic surname MacCoinneach meaning son of Kenneth which in turn translates as "Son of the Fair One" (fair as in good-looking). Other possibilities are, "fire-born" or "wise ruler".

ORIGIN & HISTORY

Tradition has it that the MacKenzies are an ancient Irish family, originally and descended from a member of the House of Geraldine, in Ireland who settled in Scotland around 1261. For assisting King Alexander III to repel a Norwegian invasion he was granted land in Kintail in the County of Ross.

His grandson who in the Gaelic was called Coinneach MacCoinneach (Kenneth son of Kenneth), was anglicized to Mackenzie (pronounced: MacKenny).

Kenneth MacKenzie first appears in 1267 living in Eilean Donan a fortified settlement on Loch Duich.

In the following centuries the fortunes of the clan varied with the political climate of the times from extreme wealth and power to defeated patriotism.

Today the seat of clan Mackenzie is at Castle Leod, Strathpeffer, Scotland

POPULARITY

As a girl's name Mackenzie did not hit the top 1000 until 1976. It rose gradually to 40th position in 2001 and has begun a slow decline since then.

As a boy's name Mackenzie reached the top 1000 in 1985, peaked at 366 in 1994 and dropped out of the top 1000 in 2002.

FACTS

The slogan of war cry of clan Mackenzie is "Tulach Ard!" ("The High Hill!")

There are two mottoes. In Gallic, "Cuidich 'N Righ" ("Help the King")

In Latin, "Luceo non Uro" ("I shine not burn")

There are eight different MacKenzie tartans.

A "Mackenzie Friend" is a British legal term for someone who assists a litigant in person in a court. The original "friend" was one Ian Hanger who was an Australian barrister not qualified to work in England. His client was a Mr Mackenzie. Since then the practice has become part of common law in Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the USA.

NAMESAKES

Mackenzie is a town in Alabama, Tennessee a county in North Dakota and is a suburb of St Louis, Missouri.

Mackenzie Lake is a suburb of Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Mackenzie is also a town in British Columbia and Ontario in Canada and a suburb of Brisbane in Queensland, Australia

Mackenzie Highway in Ontario Canada

Mackenzie Bay, Antarctica

Mackenzie River, Northwest Territories, is the longest river in Canada

USS Mackenzie, the name of three ships in the US navy between 1899 and 1971

FAMOUS PERSONS

Mackenzie Astin (b. May 12 1973, Los Angeles, California), American actor son of John Astin and Patty Duke.

Sir Mackenzie Bowell (December 27 1823-December 10 1917) was born in Suffolk, England and became the 5th Prime Minister of Canada in 1894.

Mackenzie Crook (b September 1971, Maidstone, Kent, England) a British actor famous for playing the character Gareth Keegan in "The Office" on British TV.

(Laura) Mackenzie Phillips (b 1959, Alexandria, Virginia) is an American actress and singer

Compton Mackenzie (January 19 1883 November 30 1972) was born in West Hartlepool, England and was a leading Scottish novelist and nationalist, probably most famous for his novel, "Whisky Galore"

NAME VARIANTS

McKenzie, Macenzie, McEnzie, Makenzie, Mackensie, M'Kenzie, Kenny, Kenney, MacKenny, MacKenney, McKenny, McKenney, Mackinzie, McKinzie, MacKinney, McKinney, MacKenna,

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