A modern spelling of Mackenzie, from a Scottish surname meaning son of Coinneach or fair one.
Makinzie is a creative spelling variant of Mackenzie, a Scottish surname-turned-given-name with deep Gaelic roots. The original form, Mac Coinnich, means "son of Coinneach" — and Coinneach itself derives from Old Irish "caoin" (handsome, fair, gentle), making the full name something like "son of the fair one." The Mackenzie clan was one of the great Highland clans of Scotland, their seat in Ross-shire, and the name traveled to North America with Scottish emigrants, eventually attaching itself to the Mackenzie River in Canada, named for explorer Sir Alexander Mackenzie in 1793.
That vast northern river — the longest in Canada — gives the name a quality of geographic grandeur. Mackenzie crossed from surname to given name in the 1970s and exploded in popularity as a feminine name in the United States and Canada through the 1990s and 2000s, riding the surname-name wave that also lifted Madison, Morgan, and Riley. The Makinzie spelling, like Mackynzie and Makenzie, reflects parents' desire to individualize a name at peak popularity — to give a child the sound they love while signaling a personal touch.
The "-ie" ending here echoes diminutive warmth, differentiating it from the more formal Mackenzie. Today the name sits at an interesting cultural moment: the peak of Mackenzie popularity has passed, giving all its variants a slightly retro-modern quality — recognizable but no longer ubiquitous — which many parents find exactly the right register.