Kade
Masculine · Middle English roots · “Not settled”
Kade is overwhelmingly a boys’ name — 23,294 boys against 279 girls since 1880.
Kade is one syllable that lands in a single beat — a long A closed off by a clean D, the same shape as Wade, Slade and Blake. Behind it sits the old English surname Cade, carried in family records since the Middle Ages, given a K by American parents who liked the harder look of it. It has been on the books here for decades now without ever surging or fading.
How old is the name Kade?
Kade first appears in US birth records in 1969 — 56 years ago. The typical Kade alive today was born around 2012, making them about 13 years old. About 23,000 people named Kade are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Kade most popular?
Kade peaked in 2024, reaching #345 nationally. Today it ranks #348, 3 places below that high. See the whole 2024 chart.
Kade appears on these lists:
Where it comes from
From cade (Middle English, 'cask') to Kade
The story of Kade
Cade is first documented as an English surname, in use well before it was ever a first name, and it crossed to America with English settlers in that role. Surnames-as-first-names became ordinary practice in the United States, and Cade followed; the K-spelling is a later American preference, part of the same habit that gave us Kaden beside Caden and Kayla beside Cayla. Kade also sits at the front of the Kaden–Kayden–Caden family that grew enormously in recent decades, so some parents reach it as the short, finished version of a longer favorite. Both roads end at the same four letters.
Meaningscholars disagree
Not settled — the underlying surname Cade is usually read as Middle English cade, 'cask' or 'barrel'
Two readings compete. Surname scholars generally trace Cade to Middle English cade, a cask or barrel, likely an occupational or descriptive byname; others connect it to an old Germanic personal name element. And because Kade also functions as a clipped form of Kaden, Caden and Kayden, many American bearers arrive at the name by that road instead, where the meaning question belongs to the longer name rather than this one.
How the name formed
- cadeMiddle English, 'cask'
- CadeEnglish surname
- Cadegiven name
- Kade
Related forms: Cade · Kaid · Kaden · Caden
Pronouncing Kade
KAYD
One syllable, rhyming with made and shade. Said the same way as Cade — the spellings differ, the sound does not.
Nicknames for Kade
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1969
- Most boys named
- 2024993 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #345reached in 2024
- Change vs 2024
- −5.0%943 in 2025, from 993
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Kade in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Cade in English — spelling variant
- Kaid in English — spelling variant
- Kaden in English — related form
- Caden in English — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, California, Florida.
Kades among us
people named Kade are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 1,811 born in 2025 was named Kade
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Kade
- #348
- Kade on the 2025 chart
- #164
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Kade went to 943 boys in 2025, but Cade is the same name said out loud. Together the 2 spellings went to 2,335, which makes it the 164th most-given boys’ name of the year — 184 places above the chart.
- Cade1,392
- Kade943
About 1 boy in 732 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 1,811 for Kade itself.
Spellings are grouped by a fixed rule that folds interchangeable English spellings of one sound (ck/k, ph/f, x/ks, a non-initial y for i) and keeps vowels apart, so Sean and Shawn stay separate names. It errs towards splitting: a family here is never larger than the truth. SSA national data, 2025. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Lyndon test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Kade's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Lyndon climbed just as high around 1964, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Lyndon's path sketches the road Kade is walking now.
Kade 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.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Kade is headed
Kade should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
High confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Kade beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Kade in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- One syllable and four letters: easy for a young child to write, and easy to say clearly across a noisy room or a phone line.
- Instantly pronounceable in English on first sight — nobody will need to ask how to say it, only how to spell it.
- Long record behind it as an English surname, so it is a modern-looking name with old roots rather than a recent invention.
- Steadily present in American records for decades without a fashion spike, so it reads neither dated nor brand-new.
- Sits naturally beside the widely known Kaden and Caden, which makes it familiar to most ears already.
- Cade or Kade will be a lifelong question. Both spellings are in real use and sound identical, so expect to spell it out at appointments and on forms.
- It is easily heard as a shortening of Kaden, Caden or Kayden, and some people will assume the longer name is the official one.
- Being one short syllable, it can run together with a one-syllable surname. Say the full name aloud a few times before deciding.
- The meaning is not settled, which matters if you were hoping to hand your son a clear translation. What is solid is the long paper trail of the name itself.
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Kade
Masculine · Middle English roots · #348 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Kades are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 23,000 people named Kade are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Kade?
- Kade is one of 2 recorded spellings. Cade is the more common one — 1,392 births in 2025 against 943 for Kade.
- How popular is the name Kade in 2025?
- Kade ranks #348 among US boy names in 2025, with 943 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Kade?
- About 1 in every 1,811 US boys born in 2025 was named Kade — 943 in all.
- Will my child share the name Kade with classmates?
- Kade will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Kade
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Ezequiel#348 · Leonel#350 · Wells#345 · Russell#345 · Sterling#345 · Ibrahim#351 · Wade#344 · Damien#352
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Kade? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Kade and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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