Candace
Candace was the 3173rd most popular name for girls in 2025, given to 50 babies. Its best year was 1984, when it ranked 102nd; the most babies were born in 1982 (2,848). Over the last ten years it has moved down 1,069 places. More babies were named Candace in the 1980s than in any other decade.
Meaning title of the queens of ancient Kush · Meroitic, Greek, Latin
Say it KAN-dis /ˈkændɪs/
- Rank in 2025
- #3,173 girls, down 667 places since 2020
- Babies in 2025
- 50girls
- Girls and boys
- Almost always a girl’s name2021–2025
- Peak year
- 19822,848 babies
- Total since 1880
- 85,097babies recorded
What does the name Candace mean?
Candace comes from a royal title, not an ordinary word. In the ancient kingdom of Kush (in what is now Sudan), the queens and queen mothers were called kandake, a Meroitic title that Greek writers rendered as Kandakē and Latin as Candace. The New Testament mentions "Candace, queen of the Ethiopians" in the story of the Ethiopian official in Acts 8:27, and English speakers took the title as a woman's name. It was especially fashionable in the US from the 1970s to the early 1990s.
kdke (kandake) (Meroitic, “title of the queens or queen mothers of Kush”)Κανδάκη (Ancient Greek, “Kandakē, the same title”)
How sure is this? Well established.
Other explanations you may read: Candace means 'pure and innocent' or comes from Latin candidus 'white, shining'.
Related names: Candice, Candis, Kandace, Candy.
See also: African names, names that mean king or queen.
Sources for this meaning
- Wiktionary, entry 'Candace', Wiktionary (Wikimedia Foundation)
- New Testament, Acts 8:27 (NRSV Updated Edition), Bible Gateway
- Wikipedia, 'Candace (given name)', Wikipedia (Wikimedia Foundation)
Nicknames for Candace
The usual nicknames for Candace are Candy. Some parents skip the long form: for every 100 girls named Candace in the last five years, 64 were named Candy, against 33 twenty years earlier.
| Nickname | Kind | Rank 2025 | Girls, 5 years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Candy | Traditional | #4,576 | 176 |
Nicknames reviewed by our editors; counts are girls given the nickname as their legal first name. Nobody records how many Candaces go by each one.
Candace popularity since 1880
A few boys are given the name too: 159 since 1949.
| Year | Rank (girls) | Babies (girls) |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #3,173 | 50 |
| 2020 | #2,506 | 69 |
| 2010 | #1,624 | 133 |
| 2000 | #600 | 421 |
| 1990 | #142 | 2,162 |
| 1980 | #134 | 2,187 |
| 1970 | #220 | 1,427 |
| 1960 | #325 | 843 |
| 1950 | #172 | 1,648 |
| 1940 | #1,353 | 31 |
| 1930 | #3,704 | 7 |
| 1920 | #2,083 | 18 |
| 1910 | #2,181 | 6 |
| 1900 | #1,335 | 9 |
| 1890 | #1,233 | 6 |
| 1880 | — | — |
How popular is Candace, counting every spelling?
Candace is the most common spelling of a name family that had 82 girls in 2025 across its spellings. Together these spellings went to 82 girls in 2025.
| Spelling | Babies 2025 | Official rank | Babies 2021–2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Candace | 50 | #3,173 | 276 |
| Candice | 25 | #5,125 | 148 |
| Kandace | 7 | #12,522 | 58 |
Spellings count together when they sound the same in American English and are used for the same sex; nicknames and forms that sound different (such as Theo and Theodore) are kept apart. How we group spellings.
How many kids will share the name Candace?
50 of the 3,606,400 babies born in the US in 2025 were named Candace (0.01 per 1,000 births). For a girl named Candace born in 2025, the chance that another child with the same name is in a class of 20 children the same age is under 1 in 50. If every grade liked the name as much as the 2025 babies do, only about one elementary school in 167 (of 430 pupils) would have a child named Candace.
Shares of all registered births (NCHS); classes assumed to be children born the same year. How we estimate this.
How old are people named Candace?
About 75,800 people born in the US named Candace are alive today, with a median age of 46; half are between 38 and 61. That makes Candace mostly worn by adults in their thirties to fifties.
Babies given the name each year (SSA) times the share of that birth year still alive (SSA life tables). Counts people born in the US only. Method.
Candace by state
How common Candace was among girls born in each state in 2021–2025. In 45 states fewer than five girls a year got the name, too few for SSA to publish, so those states show as zero.
Names with a similar history
These names rose and fell in step with Candace: their share of US girls followed the most similar curve since 1880. If you like Candace, they share its era and feel.
Middle names for Candace · Sibling names for Candace
Questions about the name Candace
What does Candace mean?
Candace means “title of the queens of ancient Kush” (Meroitic, Greek, Latin origin). Certainty: well established.
How popular is the name Candace?
Candace was the 3173rd most popular name for girls in 2025, given to 50 babies. Its best year was 1984, when it ranked 102nd; the most babies were born in 1982 (2,848). Over the last ten years it has moved down 1,069 places. More babies were named Candace in the 1980s than in any other decade.
Is Candace a boy or girl name?
In 2021–2025, almost always a girl’s name given the name Candace in the US.
Where is Candace most popular?
In 2021–2025, Candace was most common in New York (0.04 per 1,000 girls), followed by Pennsylvania and Virginia.