Cade
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Meaning
modern short name, possibly from Welsh Cadell "battle"
The story
Cade is one syllable our records trace, with honest hedging, possibly to the Welsh Cadell, battle, and its American life is pure late-century: about 490 in the 1970s, 860, then 4,600 in the 1990s, cresting at 13,700 in the 2000s, and settling through 8,400 to 6,900 so far this decade. It rides with Tate and Colt in the one-syllable squad these batches have collected, names that sound like decisions, and its crest-and-settle shape is the standard arc of that 1990s-2000s cohort: the Cades are in high school and college now, and their younger brothers are named Kai and Jax. In our records it goes to boys about 34,800 to 150. The battle in the etymology stays hypothetical, hedged even in our own field; the appeal was never the meaning but the click of the close.
How popular is Cade around the world?
In the United States, 6,863 babies were named Cade between 2020 and 2025.
Cade is on the official records of the United States, Canada, Scotland, Ireland, England and Wales and South Australia.
United States
1 in 3,200
In the United States, 6,863 babies were named Cade between 2020 and 2025.
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Cade peaked in the 2000s and the 2020s in nearly equal measure.
Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration
Canada
1 in 3,800
In Canada, 96 boys named Cade were born in 2024, the 340th most common name among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from provincial and territorial vital statistics across Canada; any name-sex-year under 5 is excluded at source, and small Quebec counts carry a randomized adjustment made at source. Shares divide by Statistics Canada’s count of live births for the year; the 2024 count is preliminary. Source: Statistics Canada, first names at birth (table 17-10-0147-01)
Scotland
1 in 4,200
In Scotland, 11 boys named Cade were registered in 2024, the 330th most common name among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Births registered in Scotland; different spellings count separately but accents are merged at source, and any spelling under 3 in total is suppressed. Source: National Records of Scotland, babies' first names
Ireland
1 in 14,000
In Ireland, 4 boys named Cade were born in 2025, the 676th most common name among boys that year.
The count never rose above 5 in a year, too few to chart.
Exact registered spellings from Irish vital statistics; any name under 3 in a year is withheld at source, and accented spellings (fadas) are recorded reliably only from 2018. Source: Central Statistics Office (Ireland), Irish babies' names
England and Wales
1 in 14,000
In England and Wales, 41 boys named Cade were born in 2025, the 798th most common name among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Birth registrations in England and Wales (not the whole UK); exact spellings are counted separately, and any spelling under 3 in a year is withheld at source. Source: Office for National Statistics, baby names in England and Wales
South Australia
1 in 18,0002017
In South Australia, 1 boy was registered as Cade in 2017.
The count never rose above 5 in a year, too few to chart.
Births registered in South Australia (not all of Australia) by first name and year of registration, 1944–2017, from the state’s Births, Deaths and Marriages registry, which publishes every name down to a single birth in capitals; a spelling its export repeats inside a year is counted once, and from 2018 only a top 100 is published, so the series ends at 2017. Source: Consumer and Business Services (South Australia), popular baby names
New Zealand
last on record 2013
Cade is not on the 2025 record for New Zealand, where names under 10 in a year are excluded at source.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from New Zealand birth registrations, grouped by registration year; any name under 10 in a year is excluded at source. Shares divide by Stats NZ’s count of births registered to mothers living in New Zealand, under 1% below the registry’s own count. Source: Department of Internal Affairs (New Zealand), baby name popularity over time
Not on the record in Spain, Mexico City, Argentina, Puerto Rico and Poland: those registries withhold small counts, so rare uses may sit below their floors.
Not on the Chile record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 5 registrations in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on the Montevideo record for 1940 to 2011: that registry withholds nothing, so this spelling was not given there in those years. Not on the France record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 20 births in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on the Austria record for 1984 to 2025: Statistik Austria publishes every first name down to a single birth, so this name was not given there in those years (before 2010 the record covers babies with Austrian citizenship only). Not on Norway’s list: Statistics Norway lists only first names carried by 200 or more living people, so rarer names are not shown.
When you meet Cade
Most people given the name Cade in the United States are teenagers or young adults today.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
Keep exploring
The Cade deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Cade truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Cade fits with your family’s names and surname.
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