Kandice
Feminine · “queen mother”
Kandice is a Kushite royal title with two American adjustments. The Book of Acts describes an official of the Candace of the Ethiopians reading a scroll in his chariot, and that verse is how the word entered European naming. The K and the -ice ending are twentieth-century, and neither touches the history.
How old is the name Kandice?
Kandice first appears in US birth records in 1945 — 80 years ago. The typical Kandice alive today was born around 1986, making them about 39 years old. About 6,600 people named Kandice are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Kandice most popular?
Kandice peaked in 1985, reaching #628 nationally. See the whole 1985 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From kandake to Kandice
The story of Kandice
The eighth chapter of Acts describes a court official of a Candace traveling home from Jerusalem, and it is one of the earliest references in any European text to a Black African as an individual rather than a category. The name entered Christian naming from that passage and stayed rare for centuries before becoming widely used in twentieth-century America. The spellings then multiplied in the ordinary way: C to K, and -ace to -ice or -ace depending on how the final syllable was heard, which in English is not clearly heard at all.
Meaning
queen mother
Kandake was the title of the queen mother in the kingdom of Kush, and a series of women who ruled or co-ruled from Meroe carried it. Greek writers, including the author of Acts, took it for a personal name, and the mistake has lasted two thousand years. The reading is well established. Neither the K nor the -ice ending contributes anything; they are American spelling decisions applied to a Greek transcription of a Meroitic title.
How the name formed
- kandake
- Candace
- Kandice
Related forms: Κανδάκη
Pronouncing Kandice
KAN-diss
KAN-diss, two syllables, stress at the front, the ending unstressed. Candace and Kandice are said identically in American English. The older classical reading, kan-DAY-see, survives in some biblical contexts and nowhere else.
Nicknames for Kandice
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
- 1945
- Most girls named
- 1985298 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #628reached in 1985
- Change vs 2021
- +120.0%11 in 2023, from 5
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.
Kandice in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Κανδάκη in Greek — transliteration
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas.
Kandices among us
people named Kandice are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Kandice sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- The history behind it is genuinely remarkable and very few people who carry the name know it.
- Kandi and Kay are both usable short forms in different registers.
- Two syllables with a firm first stress, which sits well against a longer surname.
- Candace is the standard spelling and this one will be rewritten as that on most documents.
- Kandace, Kandis and Candice are all in use, so the ending has to be given as well as the K.
- The name is closely tied to one American generation and dates a person fairly precisely.
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Kandice
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Kandices are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 6,600 people named Kandice are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Kandice in 2025?
- Kandice is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Kandice with classmates?
- Kandice will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More K names
The most-given names starting with K, all years combined.
Karen#1279 · Kimberly#302 · Kathleen#1150 · Katherine#186 · Kelly#851 · Kathryn#729 · Kayla#364 · Kathy#3249
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Kandice? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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