Welsh2 syllablesSurname name
Meaning: chief man, or royal power — two different languages, one spelling.
Kendrick
| Origin | English surname from either the Welsh personal name Cynwrig or the Old English name Cyneric |
|---|---|
| Meaning | Welsh Cynwrig, usually read as chief plus man or hero; Old English Cyneric, from cyne (royal) and rīc (power, rule) |
| Pronunciation | KEN-drik, two syllables, stress on the first |
| Popularity | Outside the current U.S. top 100. American use has been lifted over the past decade by one bearer in particular |
| Variants | Kenrick, Kendricks, Kendrix, Cynwrig, Cyneric |
| Nicknames | Ken, Kenny |
| Not related to | Kenneth, which is Gaelic and shares only its first syllable |
History & meaning
Kendrick is a surname with two possible parents and no birth certificate. The first candidate is Welsh: Cynwrig, a common medieval Welsh personal name usually analysed as an element meaning chief or foremost joined to one meaning man or hero. The second is Old English: Cyneric, from cyne, royal, and rīc, power or rule. The two are unrelated words in unrelated languages, they simply collapsed into the same English spelling, and for most families carrying the surname there is no way to establish which one they descend from. Anyone who tells you Kendrick definitively means one or the other is guessing. What can be said is that the two guesses point in the same direction: whichever root you take, the sense is authority.
Cynwrig anglicised as Kendrick and Kenrick along the Welsh Marches, where Welsh and English naming ran together for centuries, which is exactly the geography you would expect to blur two origins into one. The name reached America as a surname and only recently as a forename. Its modern visibility owes almost everything to Kendrick Lamar Duckworth, born in Compton in 1987 and named, by his own account, for Eddie Kendricks of the Temptations — a chain that runs from a medieval Welsh compound through Motown to the first musician outside classical or jazz to win the Pulitzer Prize for Music, awarded in 2018 for DAMN.
Why parents choose it
It sounds like an ordinary surname and means something regal, which is a good trade. Two syllables with the stress in front, a plain nickname in Ken if it is ever wanted, and no pronunciation trap. It is also that rare thing: a name with a living namesake substantial enough to be a compliment rather than a costume.
Middle names for Kendrick
Three consonant clusters in the first name mean the second should open up: Kendrick James, Kendrick Isaiah, Kendrick Elias, Kendrick Rhys. The middle names guide explains how to avoid stacking hard sounds.
Famous Kendricks
Kendrick Lamar has won multiple Grammy Awards and the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Music. Kendrick Nunn made the NBA's All-Rookie First Team in 2020 after going undrafted. Kendrick Bourne has played wide receiver in the NFL for the San Francisco 49ers and New England Patriots. The surname belongs to Eddie Kendricks, the falsetto on the Temptations' Just My Imagination, and to the actor Anna Kendrick.
Consider instead
Emrys is Welsh without the English overlay and considerably rarer. Griffin takes another Welsh personal name, Gruffudd, through the same surname route into modern use. Kenneth is the name Kendrick is most often confused with, and gives you Ken by the front door rather than the side.