Kendall

Kendall is a surname that is also used as a given name. There are several possible sources for the surname; the entry for Kendall at Ask Oxford does the best job of outlining those. After making the transition from surname to given name, Kendall was a name usually given to boys. Parents may have liked it somewhat because it seemed akin to Kenneth, both of which bring with them the nicknames Ken and Kenny. In the 1980's, some new parents began using Kendall as a girl's name, and in the 1990's, the popularity of Kendall as a girl's name may have been spurred a little by the character Kendall on the daytime soap All My Children. Now, the name is used much more for new baby girls than it is for boys. In either case, masculine or feminine, the name is common enough to not be unusual, but not common enough to be considered "popular." I'm assuming that while boys named Kendall can (and do) use Ken and Kenny as nicknames, I'm curious as to what, if any, nicknames for girls are used for Kendall. The only obvious one that I can see is Dollie/Dolly, and that seems too outdated for present tastes. Are we going to wind up with girls called Kenny, or Kennie? (Now that I think of it, and see it, Kennie isn't a bad name for a girl, really.)