Kenneth

Kenneth has the bearing of a name forged in the Scottish Highlands—anglicized from the Gaelic Coinneach, meaning handsome or born of fire, and carried by the ninth-century king who united the Picts and Scots. American parents took to it in earnest during the first half of the twentieth century; Kenneth ranked in the Top 20 for decades and produced a roll call of Kens who mostly preferred the shorter form. The full name has softened downward to near 284, where it now reads as quietly distinctive rather than dated. Steady, well-tailored, a little professorial, Kenneth still wears its crown well.