Mckinley
Mckinley was the 714th most popular name for girls in 2025, given to 393 babies. Its best year was 2014, when it ranked 379th with 862 babies. Over the last ten years it has moved down 335 places. More babies were named Mckinley in the 2010s than in any other decade.
Meaning son of the fair warrior (Scottish surname) · Scottish Gaelic
Say it muh-KIN-lee /məˈkɪnli/
- Rank in 2025
- #714 girls, down 159 places since 2020
- Babies in 2025
- 393girls
- Girls and boys
- 91% girls, 9% boys2021–2025
- Peak year
- 2014862 babies
- Total since 1880
- 22,884babies recorded
What does the name Mckinley mean?
Mckinley is a spelling of McKinley, a Scottish surname that Wiktionary derives from Gaelic Mac Fhionnlaoich, son of Fionnlaoch, a name meaning fair warrior (as in Finlay). Wiktionary notes that the boys' name was briefly popular while William McKinley was president (1897 to 1901) and that its use for girls is modern. In the US the Mckinley spelling appears for boys from 1890 and for girls from the late 1970s.
Mac Fhionnlaoich (Scottish Gaelic, “son of Fionnlaoch”)Fionnlagh (Scottish Gaelic, “fair warrior”)
How sure is this? Probable. Wiktionary only; not checked against a surname dictionary.
Related names: McKinley, Kinley, Finlay, Kenley.
See also: Scottish names.
Sources for this meaning
- Wiktionary, entry 'Mckinley' (English section), Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0; facts restated, no text reused)
- Wiktionary, entry 'McKinley' (English section), Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0; facts restated, no text reused)
- Wiktionary, entry 'Finlay' (English section), Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0; facts restated, no text reused)
- US Social Security Administration, national baby-name data 1880-2025 (yob*.txt), team3 computation of first year recorded, US Social Security Administration (public domain)
Nicknames for Mckinley
The usual nicknames for Mckinley are Kinley. Some parents skip the long form: for every 100 girls named Mckinley in the last five years, 116 were named Kinley, against 103 twenty years earlier.
| Nickname | Kind | Rank 2025 | Girls, 5 years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kinley | Modern | #692 | 2,604 |
Nicknames reviewed by our editors; counts are girls given the nickname as their legal first name. Nobody records how many Mckinleys go by each one.
Mckinley popularity since 1880
| Year | Rank (girls) | Rank (boys) | Babies (girls) | Babies (boys) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #714 | #3,721 | 393 | 30 |
| 2020 | #555 | #2,202 | 536 | 63 |
| 2010 | #556 | #1,921 | 526 | 74 |
| 2000 | #1,153 | #1,218 | 176 | 111 |
| 1990 | #6,341 | #1,510 | 14 | 57 |
| 1980 | #9,863 | #1,266 | 6 | 54 |
| 1970 | — | #1,485 | — | 33 |
| 1960 | — | #895 | — | 72 |
| 1950 | — | #656 | — | 114 |
| 1940 | — | #701 | — | 75 |
| 1930 | — | #581 | — | 107 |
| 1920 | — | #495 | — | 148 |
| 1910 | — | #553 | — | 27 |
| 1900 | — | #156 | — | 133 |
| 1890 | — | #853 | — | 7 |
| 1880 | — | — | — | — |
How popular is Mckinley, counting every spelling?
Mckinley is the most common spelling of a name family that ranked #617 for girls in 2025 once every spelling is counted together, compared with #714 for Mckinley on its own. Together these spellings went to 475 girls in 2025.
| Spelling | Babies 2025 | Official rank | Babies 2021–2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mckinley | 393 | #714 | 2,251 |
| Mckinlee | 41 | #3,689 | 278 |
| Mackinley | 13 | #8,153 | 91 |
| Mckynlee | 16 | #7,030 | 79 |
| Mckinnley | 12 | #8,684 | 62 |
Spellings count together when they sound the same in American English and are used for the same sex; nicknames and forms that sound different (such as Theo and Theodore) are kept apart. How we group spellings.
How many kids will share the name Mckinley?
393 of the 3,606,400 babies born in the US in 2025 were named Mckinley (0.11 per 1,000 births). For a girl named Mckinley born in 2025, the chance that another child with the same name is in a class of 20 children the same age is under 1 in 50. If every grade liked the name as much as the 2025 babies do, only about one elementary school in 21 (of 430 pupils) would have a child named Mckinley.
Shares of all registered births (NCHS); classes assumed to be children born the same year. How we estimate this.
How old are people named Mckinley?
About 13,000 people born in the US named Mckinley are alive today, with a median age of 12; half are between 7 and 16. That makes Mckinley a young name: most people with it are children.
Babies given the name each year (SSA) times the share of that birth year still alive (SSA life tables). Counts people born in the US only. Method.
Mckinley by state
How common Mckinley was among girls born in each state in 2021–2025. It is notably more common than nationally in West Virginia (4.8×), Idaho (3.7×), Mississippi (3.1×), Alabama (2.8×), Kentucky (2.5×). It is least common, relative to the national rate, in New Jersey, California, New York.
Names with a similar history
These names rose and fell in step with Mckinley: their share of US girls followed the most similar curve since 1880. If you like Mckinley, they share its era and feel.
Middle names for Mckinley · Sibling names for Mckinley
Questions about the name Mckinley
What does Mckinley mean?
Mckinley means “son of the fair warrior (Scottish surname)” (Scottish Gaelic origin). Certainty: probable.
How popular is the name Mckinley?
Mckinley was the 714th most popular name for girls in 2025, given to 393 babies. Its best year was 2014, when it ranked 379th with 862 babies. Over the last ten years it has moved down 335 places. More babies were named Mckinley in the 2010s than in any other decade.
Is Mckinley a boy or girl name?
In 2021–2025, 91% girls, 9% boys given the name Mckinley in the US.
Where is Mckinley most popular?
In 2021–2025, Mckinley was most common in West Virginia (1.34 per 1,000 girls), followed by Idaho and Mississippi.