Head to head · Boys' names
Grady vs Kayce
#373 vs #375 in 2025
Grady is a whisker ahead (#373 vs #375 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Grady is holding its place on the charts, Kayce is climbing the charts fast. On momentum, Kayce has the edge.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
The tale of the tape
On the charts, Grady leads 5 measures of 6; Kayce leads 1.
Ranks, counts and years are measured in the official US birth record; the classroom and living figures are estimates computed from it. The dot marks the side each measure favours on the charts — more common, not better.
What the records say
146 years of US births, drawn on one scale
Two curves, one scale
Who owned which decade
- 1880s: Grady #583, Kayce — — Grady higher
- 1890s: Grady #264, Kayce — — Grady higher
- 1900s: Grady #225, Kayce — — Grady higher
- 1910s: Grady #206, Kayce — — Grady higher
- 1920s: Grady #233, Kayce — — Grady higher
- 1930s: Grady #245, Kayce — — Grady higher
- 1940s: Grady #291, Kayce — — Grady higher
- 1950s: Grady #366, Kayce — — Grady higher
- 1960s: Grady #458, Kayce — — Grady higher
- 1970s: Grady #574, Kayce — — Grady higher
- 1980s: Grady #741, Kayce #6229 — Grady higher
- 1990s: Grady #806, Kayce #7423 — Grady higher
- 2000s: Grady #512, Kayce #9121 — Grady higher
- 2010s: Grady #356, Kayce #5746 — Grady higher
- 2020s: Grady #395, Kayce #783 — Grady higher
Grady stood higher in every recorded decade — 15 of 15.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Grady | Kayce |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #583 | — |
| 1890s | #264 | — |
| 1900s | #225 | — |
| 1910s | #206 | — |
| 1920s | #233 | — |
| 1930s | #245 | — |
| 1940s | #291 | — |
| 1950s | #366 | — |
| 1960s | #458 | — |
| 1970s | #574 | — |
| 1980s | #741 | #6229 |
| 1990s | #806 | #7423 |
| 2000s | #512 | #9121 |
| 2010s | #356 | #5746 |
| 2020s | #395 | #783 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Grady
noble, illustrious
The Irish surname Ó Grádaigh is built on grádha, 'noble' or 'illustrious'. The meaning belongs to the ancestor the family was named for, not to the name as a word in its own right.
Ó Grádaigh → O'Grady → Grady
How it traveled
Grady comes from Ó Grádaigh, an Irish surname long associated with Limerick and County Clare, anglicized as O'Grady when English spelling was imposed on Gaelic names. Irish emigration carried it to the United States in the nineteenth century, and there the apostrophe fell away and the surname started appearing in the given-name column — part of a broad American habit of promoting family names to first names.
Kayce
vigilant, watchful — by way of the Irish surname Casey
The mainstream reading traces Casey to the Irish Ó Cathasaigh, 'descendant of Cathasach', from cathasach, 'vigilant' or 'watchful'. The K-spelling is also read a second way: as the spoken initials K.C., a nickname pattern long attached to men called Casey and to people with those two initials. Both readings are genuinely in circulation, and the spelling itself does not settle the question.
Cathasach → Ó Cathasaigh → Casey → Kayce
How it traveled
Cathasach was an Irish byname before it was anyone's surname; families descended from a man of that name became Ó Cathasaigh, anglicized to Casey. Emigration carried the surname to the United States in the nineteenth century, where, like Kelly, Riley and Ryan, it slid from last name to first.
Where a reading is contested the note says so — this page does not turn a guess into a fact. The chain is each name's recorded forms, oldest first; the story is its opening, told in full on the name's own page.
Out loud, and in short
Grady
GRAY-dee
Stress on the first syllable. English speakers read it correctly on sight, and the spelling follows the sound with nothing left over.
- Grady — Almost always used in full; at two syllables it needs no shortening, and most bearers never acquire one.
- G — Informal, from friends and teammates rather than family; common to many G- names rather than specific to this one.
Kayce
KAY-see
Stress on the first syllable. The spelling is transparent — almost everyone reads it right the first time, even if they then write it as Casey.
- KC — Written as initials or spoken as two letters; also used on its own by adults who go by nothing else.
- Kay — Informal clipping, more often heard within families than outside them.
- Case — Informal short form carried over from Casey; used mostly by friends and teammates.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Grady if you want…
- a name holding steadyGrady is holding its place on the charts
- a name with more sound in itGrady runs 2 syllables, Kayce 1
- a name that ages quietlyan estimated 40% chance of feeling dated by 2040, against 65% for Kayce
Choose Kayce if you want…
- a name on the way upup 1,402 places on the charts in five years
- a name with fewer syllablesKayce is 1 syllable to Grady's 2
- a name that feels very nowKayce is climbing the charts fast
Each line is a measured difference between the two names — a rank, a count, a recorded form — never a judgement of either. Save the one that answers your question; it lands on your shortlist.
The trade-offs, name by name
Grady
Strengths
- Spelled the way it sounds and read correctly at first glance — no dictation over the phone, no alternate spellings to fend off.
- An unbroken record in American use since the nineteenth century, so it belongs to no single decade and dates a child to none.
- Carries a documented Irish surname line, Ó Grádaigh, for families who want an ancestral thread rather than an invented one.
To consider
- Grady is close enough to Brady and Grace that it gets misheard in noisy rooms and over the phone — not misspelled, just mistaken. Most bearers learn to repeat it once and move on.
- It resists shortening. There is no established affectionate form, so a child gets one register at home and at school rather than a formal name and a soft one.
- In the US the record is essentially all boys. A girl named Grady would not be unheard of among surname-names, but she would be doing something the statistics have not yet caught up with.
Kayce
Strengths
- Reads correctly on sight: KAY-see is what the letters say, so it is rarely mispronounced.
- The sound is long-established through Casey, so it is instantly familiar aloud even where the spelling is not.
- Two syllables, no clusters, and it survives being shouted across a playing field.
To consider
- It will be written as Casey or Kasey by strangers for life. The sound is common; this arrangement of letters is not, so expect a lifetime of spelling it out.
- Much of the recent momentum comes from one television character. Names that ride a single show can date to that era once the show ends — worth knowing, not necessarily worth avoiding.
- Casey is thoroughly unisex in American use, and the sound carries that with it. This spelling leans male in the records, but people meeting the name on paper won't reliably assume either way.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Grady
40%chance Grady feels dated by 2040
Grady sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
Kayce
65%chance Kayce feels dated by 2040
Kayce is climbing fast right now. Steep climbs tend to come with steep descents — the quicker a name arrives, the more firmly it belongs to its moment.
A reading of where each name sits on the long naming cycle — computed, not measured, and explained on the data page.
With your last name
Say both in full. The notes are facts about letters and sound — a rhyme, a shared initial, the monogram — not a verdict on either name.
Type a last name to hear Grady and Kayce in full.
Weighing the whole shortlist? Run the full comparison — up to eight names with your last name, initials, classroom projections and a printable report.
Decide together
Nobody names a baby alone
Still torn between Grady and Kayce?
Put both to the vote.
One link to your partner, your parents, your sister. Each of them gets the two names, a one-tap answer and room to say why — and every reply lands in one place.
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More head-to-heads
Same measures, different pair. Sixty more are dealt daily in the arena.
Lists these names appear on
- Names ending in -y
- The best baby names starting with G
- The names with the most spellings
- Names ending in -ce
- all guides
Where Grady and Kayce each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Grady or Kayce — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Grady or Kayce?
- Grady, in 2025: Grady ranked #373 with 851 babies; Kayce ranked #375 with 843 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Grady or Kayce?
- Kayce. Over the last five years Grady moved up 26 places; Kayce moved up 1,402 places.
- Which is the older name, Grady or Kayce?
- Grady entered the US charts in 1887; Kayce entered the US charts in 1989. On the American record, Grady is the older name.
- How many people are named Grady and Kayce?
- About 33,500 people named Grady are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 3,300 people named Kayce are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Gradys or Kayces in the classroom?
- Grady will almost certainly be the only one in school. Kayce will almost certainly be the only one in school.
US figures from the Social Security Administration, 1880–2025. Votes are battle voters on this site, not the birth record. Data & methodology
Keep playing
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