Makenzie is a simplified spelling of Mackenzie, the Scottish surname that means "son of Coinneach", a Gaelic name usually read as "handsome" or "fair one". The surname became a girls' name in the United States in the 1990s, and parents soon added phonetic spellings like Makenzie and Mckenzie. Makenzie ranked number 199 in 2000, peaked at number 139 in 2011 and has fallen steadily since, ranking number 700 in 2025.