Kennedy

Kennedy arrived in American given-name use via the obvious route, the Irish-American political dynasty whose surname became a kind of civic shorthand for glamour and service. The root is the Gaelic Ó Cinnéide, descendant of the helmeted chief, a fitting etymology for a family of many hats. Once predominantly used for boys in the form of surname tribute, the name pivoted decisively to girls in the late 1990s and has held steady in the top 90. Three syllables of light percussion, it carries just enough institutional weight to feel substantial and just enough pep to feel contemporary. Kennedy reads as ambitious, articulate, already drafting her speech.