Looking for Passenger Lists from Ireland in 1840's to New York. I am not sure where to start looking

Question

I am trying to locate a Daniel Mckenzie at the age about 13 coming from Ireland with his family to New York. I am hoping to find his parents names. 
 Thank You

Textual Reference Branch, Archives II · Answer

Michele2024 
 Thank you for posting your question on History Hub! 
 
 The dates and ages you are providing are contradictory. If he was born in 1838, he would have been 3 in 1841, not 13. If instead he was born in 1838 and arrived when he was 13, he would have arrived in 1851, which is not in the 1840s. You may wish to clarify your information. 
 
 Also, please keep in mind that throughout most of the 19th century, most places did not have official birth certificates or a requirement that people present documentary evidence of their birth date when providing information to census takers, shipping companies, and others that created the records now used for genealogical purposes. As noted in Passenger Arrival List Research Tips age information on passenger lists can sometimes be misleading. It is also common to see spellings of names that are other than what you might expect. 
 
 We searched the Access to Archival Databases (AAD) and located the Records for Passengers Who Arrived at the Port of New York During the Irish Famine, documenting the period 1/12/1846 - 12/31/1851 in the Records of the Center for Immigration Research (Collection CIR) that includes a file pertaining to a Daniel McKenzie who arrived in 1849 at the age of 14. We also expanded the search to all persons whose first name begins with &ldquo;Dan&rdquo; and whose ask name begins with &ldquo;McK&rdquo; and got 31 results . We then searched for all persons named McKenzie with 76 results , including an M.A. McKenzie aged 16 who arrived on the same vessel as Daniel McKenzie. 
 
 We searched the National Archives Catalog and located Passenger Lists, 1817 - 1897 (M237) of vessels arriving at the Port of New York in the Records of the U.S. Customs Service (Record Group 36). For more information about these records, please contact the National Archives at New York City (RRFN) at newyork.archives@nara.gov . 
 
 Microfilm Publication M237 has been digitized and made available online by Ancestry as New York, U.S., Arriving Passenger and Crew Lists (including Castle Garden and Ellis Island), 1820-1957 and on FamilySearch as New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1891 . There may be a fee for using Ancestry. Instead, please check for access at your local library as many library systems subscribe to these sites, making them free for their patrons. 
 
 We searched Ancestry and determined that the Daniel McKenzie who arrived in 1849 is listed in their transcription Daniel Kenzie. Their scan of the microfilmed passenger list shows that no last name is listed for him, and the 16 year old person above him might be interpreted as M.A. M&rsquo;Kenzie, or M.A. McKenzie. No adults with that last name are listed on the same sheet, nor is there a separate field on the passenger lists for the names of parents. 
 
 Finally, if you haven&rsquo;t done so already, you may also wish to search for naturalization records. See Naturalization Records at the National Archives for details about these. 
 
 We hope this assists you with your research! 
 
 Sincerely, 
 
 Textual Reference Archives II Branch (RR2RA) 
 23-42934-JA