Candyce
A feminine name of English origin meaning "bright or shining".
Name Census estimates that about 2,499 living Americans carry the first name Candyce. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Candyce today is around 49 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Candyce births was 1985 (102 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Candyce. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
2.5K
~ 1 in 137,157 Americans
Peak year
1985
102 babies that year
Average age
49
years old
2021 SSA rank
#15,706
Tracked since 1943
Census
Candyce in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,578 people with the first name Candyce, which placed it at #6,257 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#6,257
National first-name rank
People counted
2.6K
2,578 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.9
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
67.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Candyce
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Candyce is White at 67.9%. The next largest groups are Black (20.4%) and Hispanic (5.0%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Candyce described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Candyce at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White67.9% · 1,750
- Black or African American20.4% · 526
- Hispanic or Latino5.0% · 129
- Two or more races4.3% · 111
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.3% · 34
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.1% · 28
Popularity
Candyce: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Candyce from the 1940s through to the 2020s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 770 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Candyce by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Candyce during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Candyces live
The SSA's state-level files cover 22 states and territories. California, Texas, Minnesota recorded the most babies named Candyce, while Virginia, South Dakota, Pennsylvania recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 42 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Candyce
The name Candyce is derived from the ancient Greek word "kandyke," which means "brilliant" or "shining." The name has its roots in the Greek culture and was particularly popular among the aristocratic families of ancient Greece.
In the early days of Christianity, the name Candyce gained popularity as it was associated with the idea of purity and radiance. It was often given to children born on or around the feast day of St. Candida, a Christian martyr from the 3rd century.
The earliest recorded use of the name Candyce can be traced back to the 5th century, when it appeared in a manuscript detailing the lives of early Christian saints. One of the first notable figures with this name was Candyce of Trier, a Frankish noblewoman who lived in the 6th century and was known for her charitable works.
Throughout the Middle Ages, the name Candyce remained in use, primarily among the nobility and upper classes. One of the most famous bearers of this name was Candyce of Anjou, a French princess who lived in the 12th century and was renowned for her beauty and intelligence.
In the Renaissance period, the name Candyce gained further popularity, particularly in Italy and France. One of the most notable figures from this era was Candyce de' Medici, a member of the powerful Medici family in Florence, who lived from 1520 to 1589 and was a patron of the arts and a skilled diplomat.
During the 17th and 18th centuries, the name Candyce spread across Europe and was embraced by various cultural and linguistic groups. In England, one of the most famous individuals with this name was Candyce Churchill, a noblewoman who lived from 1653 to 1714 and was a close confidante of Queen Anne.
In the 19th century, the name Candyce gained popularity in the United States, where it was often associated with a sense of refinement and elegance. One notable American bearer of this name was Candyce Stowe, a writer and abolitionist who lived from 1811 to 1896 and is best known for her novel "Uncle Tom's Cabin."
Other notable individuals throughout history who bore the name Candyce include Candyce Austen, a British author and sister of Jane Austen, who lived from 1775 to 1817, and Candyce Nightingale, a British nurse and pioneer of modern nursing practices, who lived from 1820 to 1910.
People
Candyce + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Candyce as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with C
Other first names starting with C with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Candyce: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Candyce?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,499 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Candyce going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 137,157 US residents.
Is Candyce a common name?
We classify Candyce as "Rare". It ranks above 94.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 3,014 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Candyce most popular?
The single biggest year for Candyce was 1985, when 102 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Candyce is about 49 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Candyce in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,578 people with the name Candyce, or 0.85 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #6,257 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Candyce in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Candyce?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Candyce appears almost entirely female. Of the 2,583 people counted with this name, 99.9% were female and only a very small share were male. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Candyce?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Candyce is White at 67.9%. The next largest groups are Black (20.4%) and Hispanic (5.0%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Candyce most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Candyce in the 2020 Census, accounting for 67.9% (1,750 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Candyce in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Candyce a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Candyce in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Candyce still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Candyce in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Candyce can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many Americans are named Candyce?
Want to know how many Americans are named Candyce? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.