Candace
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Meaning
traditional royal title of ancient Nubian queens
The story
Candace began as a title, not a name: Kandake, the hereditary title of the queen mothers who ruled the ancient kingdom of Kush, along the Nile in what is now Sudan. The Book of Acts mentions one such queen, which carried the word into Bibles and, centuries later, into English use as a given name. In America it kept a quiet presence through the early twentieth century, gathered momentum after mid-century, and reached its peak in the 1980s before gently receding. Its most decorated modern bearer is Candace Parker, the basketball star who won two league Most Valuable Player awards and became the first WNBA player to win championships with three different franchises, a fittingly regal resume for a name that literally meant queen mother. Today Candace is past its fashionable moment, familiar to every generation but given to few, which lends it a certain settled, royal calm.
How popular is Candace around the world?
In the United States, 345 babies were named Candace between 2020 and 2025. In South Australia, 1 girl was registered as Candace in 2017.
Candace is on the official records of the United States, South Australia, Canada, England and Wales and Brazil.
United States
1 in 63,000
In the United States, 345 babies were named Candace between 2020 and 2025.
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Candace peaked in the 1980s.
Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration
South Australia
1 in 18,0002017
In South Australia, 1 girl was registered as Candace 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
Canada
1 in 28,000
In Canada, 13 girls named Candace were born in 2024, ranked 1,709th among girls 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)
England and Wales
1 in 84,000
In England and Wales, 7 girls named Candace were born in 2025, ranked 3,333rd among girls 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
Argentina
last on record 2016
Candace is not on the 2024 record for Argentina, where small counts are withheld at source.
The count never rose above 3 in a year, too few to chart.
Given-name components of births in Argentina 2012–2024; national cells are lower bounds and no sex split is published. Source: RENAPER (Argentina), Dirección Nacional de Población, given names 2012-2024
Brazil
At the 2022 census, 29 people in Brazil were named Candace, ranked 96,655th, with a median age of 32.
People alive and resident in Brazil at the 2022 census, a living-population count, not births; names under 20 are withheld at source. Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
New Zealand
last on record 1991
Candace 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, Puerto Rico, Ireland, Scotland 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 Candace
People given the name Candace in the United States span the generations: the middle half were born anywhere from 1950 to 1989. Age is the one thing the name won't tell you.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
Keep exploring
The Candace deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Candace 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 Candace fits with your family’s names and surname.
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