This interesting surname has a number of possible sources depending on what country it originated. In England it derived from the Middle English given name "Cenric" or "Kendrich", from the Old English pre 7th Century "Cyneric", composed of the elements "cyne" royal and "ric" power. The Welsh personal name "Cyn(w)rig" or "Cynfrig" was the origin of the Welsh surname, which derived from the elements "cyn" a chief and "(g)wr" a man plus the suffix of quality "ig". In Scotland the surname originated from Machendrie or Mackendrick, which are Highland border names meaning "son of Henry". In Ireland the surname is a variant of Enright, an Anglicized form of the Gaelic byname "Indreachtach" Attacker. The surname is first recorded in the latter half of the 13th Century (see below). One, John Kerrych, is noted in the "Calendar of Inquisitiones post mortem, Suffolk (1297). In the modern idiom the surname has numerous variant spellings including Kenrick, Kenwrick, Kerrich, Kerrage, Kerrick etc.. A famous namebearer being Emma Eleonora Kendrick (1788-1871), a miniature-painter, and author of "Conversations on the Art of Miniature-Painting", 1830. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of John Kendrich, which was dated 1279, in the Hundred Rolls of Cambridgeshire, during the reign of King Edward 1, knownn as "The Hammer of the Scots", 1272 - 1307. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

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