Perhaps not surprisingly this is a rare surname, although one recorded in a number of spellings. These include such as Keenliside, Keenlyside, Kingleyside, Kinleyside, Kindleside, Kindelside and several others. It is certainly a surname of the British Isles, but as to where it is from is a mystery. We thought that it was Scottish, and indeed it may be Scottish, but if so we have not been able to establish any definitive links. Certainly it is not recorded as a surname in the Scottish dictionary, but names do slip through. There is a place in Northumberland, which is as near as you can get to Scotland, called Keenly or originally "Ken-leah", meaning Cena's farm. Keenly is one of the prefix spellings for the surname, and Keenly is in what is known to be a "lost" village area, although the surname does not seem to be recorded in Northumberland. This is not unusual in that locational names are "from" names and given to people after they left their original homesteads to move somewhere else. Spelling over the centuries being at best erratic and local dialects very thick, as with this surname, often lead to the creation of many spelling forms. Recordings include Anthony Linleside at the famous church of St Mary-le-Bone, in the city of London, on December 19th 1675, and William Kinleyside at St Olaves Southwark, on April 27th 1722.

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