KINNARD
Kinnard is a surname of Scottish provenance, deriving from the Gaelic personal name Cionaodha and from the place name Kinnaird, both of which give insight into its early usage and meaning.
The original personal name Cionaodha translates to “born of fire” or “born of the noble one”. As a patronymic the surname identified the descendants of a man carrying this name, a practice common in early medieval Scotland.
In parallel, the surname is also a locational form associated with the barony of Kinnaird in Perthshire. The name ceann-ard means “high head” or “high land”, a description of the landscape that gave the place its designation. The grant records of 1204‑1214 and the confirmation of Richard of Kinnard underlie the earliest documentary evidence.
Historical documents mention several members of the family, for example William de Kynard who was a burgess of Perth in 1428 and another William Kynnard recorded in Aberdeenshire in 1546. The surname has survived in a variety of spellings – Kinnaird, Kynard, Kynnaird, Kennard, Kinard – reflecting differences in regional dialects, phonetic spellings and the migration of families.
Today the surname is uncommon but is found mainly in the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada. Its presence in Scotland remains modest, while the United States registers the highest proportion of bearers. The diverse spelling variants continue to be held worldwide, evidencing the dispersion of the name through emigration and colonisation.
Typical given names associated with the Kinnard surname
Male
- Alexander
- Andrew
- Daniel
- David
- Jack
- James
- John
- Mark
- Michael
- Nigel
- Paul
- Richard
- Stephen
Female
- Birgit
- Denise
- Elizabeth
- Julie
- Karen
- Kim
- Louise
- Margaret
- Nicola
- Rebecca
- Sarah
- Susan
- Winifred
Similar and related surnames
Related and similar names are generated algorithmically based on the spelling, and may not necessarily share an etymology.
How to communicate the surname Kinnard in...
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There are approximately 177 people named Kinnard in the UK. That makes it one of Britain's least common surnames. Only around three in a million people in Britain are named Kinnard.
Surname type: Occupational name
Origin: English
Region of origin: British Isles
Country of origin: England
Religion of origin: Christian
Language of origin: English
