Given name & surname · also English, American
Cade
“a precocious young woman”·“one who is round”·“of the cask”
Cade is a surname that made the move into given-name use, with a literary appearance in Gone with the Wind.
Meaning & origin
What it means
Interpretations include “a precocious young woman”, “one who is round”, and “of the cask”. These belong to different or overlapping naming contexts.
Where it comes from
This spelling has been associated with American, English, and French naming traditions.
How it developed
It entered given-name use through an existing surname.
The story
A character in Margaret Mitchell’s Gone with the Wind bears Cade as a given name. This literary use is part of the story of its move from surname to first name.
Cade through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 34,918
- 34,772 boys · 146 girls
- Most popular year
- 2001
- 1,817 babies
- 2025
- 1,398
- #248 for boys · #13,507 for girls
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- +54%
- Rising fast
Where it’s given
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 1,392 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 248 among boys’ names. Average annual use for boys was 53.3% higher in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. Its largest published annual count for boys was 1,811 in 2001. It also appeared in 6 birth records for girls in 2025. In 2025, Ohio had the largest reported state-level birth count for boys with this name (119). Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 27,587 as a first name in 2020; 8,077 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Cade’s family of names
Cade has a related form in Caden. Cade has a related form in Cayden. Cade has a related form in Caiden.
The ring: nicknames and forms.
Nicknames & forms 32
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
- Cadenvariant
- Kadevariant · English
- Caydenvariant
- Caidenvariant
- Caydevariant · English
- Kaydevariant · English
- Caedenvariant
- Caidynvariant
Show 24 moreShow fewer
- Kaidvariant · English
- Cadynvariant
- Kaidevariant · English
- Cadyvariant
- Caidanvariant
- Cadanvariant
- Caidevariant · English
- Cadinvariant
- Caydvariant
- Caydynvariant
- Caedynvariant
- Caidinvariant
- Caydinvariant
- Caedinvariant
- Caedanvariant
- Caydanvariant
- Caidonvariant
- Caedonvariant
- Caydonvariant
- Cadonvariant
- Caedvariant
- Caidvariant · English
- Caedevariant
- Cadévariant · English
People named Cade
- Cade CunninghamAmerican basketball player (born 2001)
- Cade CowellAmerican soccer playerborn 2003
- Cade McNownAll-American college football player, professional football player, quarterbackborn 1977
- Cade FairchildAmerican ice hockey playerborn 1989
- Cade OttonAmerican football playerborn 1999
- Cade SmithCanadian baseball playerborn 1999
Characters named Cade: Cade Skywalker.
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love Cade, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
Pierce
“as solid and strong as a rock”
96% boys · 4% girls
Clark
“a cleric; a clerk”
98% boys · 2% girls
Nigel
“the champion”
>99% boys
Holden
“one who is willing and eager” · “from the hollow in the valley”
99% boys · 1% girls
Fedrick
Fedrick is a form of Cedric. One Welsh interpretation is “one who is kind and loved; of the spectacular bounty.”
>99% boys
Romeo
“pilgrim to Rome”
>99% boys
Lando
“a manly man”
>99% boys
Shakespeare
“to brandish a weapon”
75% boys · 25% girls