Baby name
Mckinley
/muh · KIN · lee/
Meaning
“Possibly son of Finlay”
Possibly an anglicized form of the Scottish Gaelic surname Mac Fhionnlaigh, 'son of Finlay'. A competing Irish account instead traces the surname to Mac an Leigh, 'son of the physician'. Originally a Scottish Highland clan surname, it later became famous as the family name of U.S. President William McKinley, and has been used mostly as a girls' given name in the United States since the 1990s.
Nicknames
kinley
Vibe
How it ages.
A modern surname name rather than a timeless classic - it surged for girls in the 1990s and 2000s and has been gently fading since, more a name of its moment than an heirloom pick.
The cultural moment.
In the United States, McKinley peaked among girls in the mid-2010s and has been declining since, ranked #714 among American girls' names in 2025, down from #379 in 2015.