Kennedy, alternately O'Kennedy and Kennedie, is a surname of Irish and Scottish origin that has also been used as a given name.
There have been several different etymologies given for the surname. One is that the name is an Anglicisation of the Gaelic Ó Ceannéidigh meaning "grandson of Ceannéidigh". Ceannéidigh is a given name derived from the Gaelic words ceann, meaning "head", and éidigh, meaning "ugly". In some etymologies, the element ceann is given as "chief" or "leader". Another possibility is that Kennedy is an Anglicisation of Ó Cinnéide, meaning "grandson of Cinnédidh" or "grandson of Cinnéidigh", with both of these personal names meaning "helmet headed." Ceanéidigh could be related to the old Gaelic name Cennétig, which is known from Cennétig Mac Lorcáin, the father of the Irish high king Brian mac Cennétig, who himself was also known as Brian Bóruma or Brian Boru. There are also an Irish Kennedy family and a Scottish Kennedy clan of Carrick in Ayrshire, which are unrelated to one another.
Caroline Kennedy (born 1957), attorney; daughter of John and Jacqueline KennedyTed Kennedy (1932–2009), senior US senator from Massachusetts, married twice and father of threeEthel Kennedy (born 1928), widow of Robert Francis Kennedy and mother of Joseph Patrick Kennedy II, Robert Francis Kennedy Jr. and other nineEunice Kennedy Shriver (1921–2009), sister of President John F. Kennedy; wife of Robert Sargent Shriver, Jr.Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis (1929–1994), First Lady of the United States; widow of John F. KennedyJean Kennedy Smith (born 1928), ambassador to Ireland; sister of President John F. KennedyJohn F. Kennedy (1917–1963), 35th President of the United StatesJohn F. Kennedy, Jr. (1960–1999), attorney, publisher; son of John and JacquelineJoseph P. Kennedy, Sr. (1888–1969), former Ambassador to the United Kingdom; father of President John F. KennedyJoseph P. Kennedy, Jr. (1915–1944), WWII pilot; eldest son of Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr.Joseph P. Kennedy II (born 1952), former US representative from Massachusetts; son of Robert F. KennedyKathleen Cavendish, Marchioness of Hartington (1920–1948), widow of the heir to the Devonshire dukedom; sister of President John F. KennedyPatrick J. Kennedy (born 1967), US representative from Rhode Island, son of Ted KennedyPatricia Kennedy Lawford (1924–2006), sister of president John F. Kennedy, wife of Peter Lawford and mother of fourRobert F. Kennedy (1925–1968), US senator from New York; US Attorney GeneralRobert F. Kennedy, Jr. (born 1954), attorney, environmentalist, activistRose Kennedy (1890–1995), Kennedy family matriarch; mother of President John F. KennedyRosemary Kennedy (1918–2005), oldest sister of President John F. KennedyIn arts and entertainment
Kennedy, American musicianA. L. Kennedy (Alison Louise Kennedy, born 1965), Scottish novelistAdam Kennedy (actor) (1922–1997), actor, screenwriter, novelist, painterAndrew Karpati Kennedy (1931–2016), author and literary criticArthur Kennedy (actor) (1914–1990), American actorBetty Kennedy, retired Canadian senator, television personalityBill Kennedy (actor) (1908–1997), American actor and television personalityCarl Kennedy, stage actorCory Kennedy, American Internet celebrityDarren Kennedy, Irish television presenter, fashion writer and stylistDouglas Kennedy, UK-based American novelistEdgar Kennedy (1890–1948), American actorGeorge Kennedy (1925–2016), American actorGraeme K. (Graeme Kennedy), American musicianGraham Kennedy, Australian comedian and television presenterJamie Kennedy, American comedian and actorJon Kennedy, British drummer and electronic musicianKathleen Kennedy (film producer) (born 1953), film producerLena Kennedy, English romantic novelistLeon S. Kennedy, frequent character in the Resident Evil franchiseLisa Kennedy Montgomery (born 1972), stage name Kennedy, American political satirist and former MTV VJLucy Napaljarri Kennedy, indigenous Australian artistLudovic Kennedy, British journalist, broadcaster, and authorMargaret Kennedy (1896–1967), English novelistMary Kennedy, Irish television personalityMerna Kennedy (1908–1944), American actressMr. Kennedy, the ring name used by American professional wrestler Ken Anderson (born 1976) during his time in WWEMyles Kennedy (born 1969), American rock singer and guitaristNigel Kennedy, English violinistPatrick Kennedy, British theatre directorSarah Kennedy British television and radio broadcasterSean J. Kennedy American drumset player, percussionist, author and educatorSheila Kennedy, Penthouse model in the early 1980sSheila Kennedy (architect) American architectTom Kennedy (television presenter) (born 1927), stage name of American game show host James NarzWilliam Kennedy (author) (born 1928), American writer and journalistWilliam J. Kennedy, American writer, winner of the 1984 Pulitzer Prize for fictionIn politics and government
Alfred J. Kennedy (1877–1944), New York politicianAmbrose Jerome Kennedy, American politicianAnthony Kennedy, US Supreme Court Associate JusticeArthur Kennedy, British colonial administratorBetty Kennedy, retired Canadian senator, television personalityCharles Kennedy, Scottish politician, former leader of the Liberal DemocratsClaudia J. Kennedy, first female lieutenant general in the US Army, noted intelligence officerDavid Kennedy (Australian politician) (born 1940), Australian politicianDavid M. Kennedy, 60th Secretary of the Treasury of the United States of America, and US Ambassador to NATOEdward Joseph Kennedy (born 1851), Irish nationalist politician, Member of Parliament for South SligoGerard Kennedy, Canadian politicianHelena Kennedy, Baroness Kennedy of The Shaws, Scottish barrister, writer and politicianHiram Raleigh Kennedy, American politicianJohn Neely Kennedy, Louisiana United States Senator and Republican politicianJohn Pendleton Kennedy (born 1795), Maryland author and politician, Secretary of the Navy in the Filmore administrationLeland T. Kennedy, US Air Force pilot twice awarded the Air Force CrossMark Kennedy, British undercover policemanMark Kennedy, American politicianNeil Kennedy, Lord Kennedy (1854–1918), was a Scottish advocate and legal academic, Chairman of the Scottish Land Court 1912–18Nigel Kennedy (politician) (1889–1964), British barrister, army officer and politicianSir Paul Kennedy, British judgeSeema Kennedy (born 1974), British Conservative Party politician, Member of Parliament (MP) for South Ribble since May 2015Thomas Laird Kennedy, Premier of Ontario (1948–1949)Adam Kennedy, Major League Baseball playerAllan Kennedy (born 1958), Canadian-born American football playerBen Kennedy, Australian rugby league footballerBob Kennedy, Major League Baseball player and managerBob Kennedy (1921–2010), American football playerBob Kennedy (1928–1991), American football playerBob Kennedy, distance runnerCallum Kennedy, English footballerClem Kennedy, Australian rugby league footballerCortez Kennedy, American football playerCourtney Kennedy, dual Olympic medal winner in women's ice hockeyDave Kennedy (footballer) (born 1949), English footballerDavid Kennedy (racing driver) (born 1953), Irish racing driverEdward Shirley Kennedy, British alpinistFred Kennedy (1902–1963) English football player.Gilbert G. Kennedy (1844–1909), Scottish footballerIan Kennedy (born 1984), American baseball playerJim Kennedy, American baseball player, brother of Junior KennedyJoshua Kennedy, Australian soccer playerJunior Kennedy, American baseball player, brother of Jim KennedyKenneth Kennedy, the first Winter Olympian for AustraliaKevin Kennedy (baseball) (born 1954), American baseball manager and broadcasterMarcus Kennedy, American basketball playerMark Kennedy, Irish football (soccer) playerMike Kennedy, American college baseball coachNery Kennedy, Paraguayan javelin throwerNick Kennedy, English rugby playerPat Kennedy, American college basketball coachPatrick Kennedy (swimmer) (born 1964), American swimmerRay Kennedy, English footballerRon Kennedy (1953–2009), Canadian ice hockey playerSimon Kennedy (born 1967), English sports agentTed Kennedy (ice hockey) (1925–2009), Canadian ice hockey playerTim Kennedy, mixed martial arts fighterTim Kennedy, hockey playerAdrian Kennedy, Irish radio hostAlexander Kennedy, British civil engineerBenjamin Hall Kennedy, English classical scholarBetty Ann Kennedy, American bridge playerD. James Kennedy, American Presbyterian pastor and theologianDiane Kennedy, American CPA, speaker, financial writerDonald Kennedy, American scientist, public administrator, and academicDuncan Kennedy, Carter Professor of General Jurisprudence, Harvard Law SchoolEdmund Kennedy, Australian explorerEdward Kennedy, American journalist who first reported the German surrender in World War IIEdward Stewart Kennedy, American historian of scienceIan Kennedy, Irish landscape architectJoseph W. Kennedy, American physicistJonny Kennedy, subject of the documentary The Boy Whose Skin Fell OffKathryn Kennedy, California wine makerMargrit Kennedy, German architect and authorMyles Burton Kennedy, Furness ironmasterPaul Kennedy, British historian of international relationsRita Shugart, née Kennedy, American bridge playerStetson Kennedy (1916–2011), American human rights activist and folklore collectorThomas Francis Kennedy (bishop) (1858–1917), American Catholic archbishopAlan Kennedy, several peopleAndrew Kennedy, several peopleArthur Kennedy, several peopleJack Kennedy, several peopleJames Kennedy, several peopleJohn Kennedy, several peopleMartin Kennedy, several peopleMatthew Kennedy, several peopleTerry Kennedy, several peopleWalter Kennedy, several people