Numerous in Ulster today. Mainly found in counties Antrim and Tyrone. It is more numerous today than it was a century ago in 1866 there were 9 MacKinney births registered and in 1890 there were 42. The reason for this most unusual increase is that there has been a continuous tendency for the Scottish Mackenzie to become MacKinney in Ireland and it has also been used as a synonym of MacKenna. MacKinney is also the name of a sept of the Clan Mackinnon.