US Popularity Rank: 499

Origin: Scottish

Meaning: fire born; good-looking

The Scottish people knew the name Kenneth because it was the name of their first king. But for everyone else, Sir Walter Scott introduced the name in his 1825 book, The Talisman, where the novel’s hero was Sir Kenneth of the Couchant Leopard, Prince Royal of Scotland. In 1959, Barbie got a forever boyfriend named Ken, who was just as pretty and clean-cut as she was. It’s fitting, then, that one of the meanings of Kenneth is “good-looking”! The other, “fire born,” is equally alluring.