Kandyce
Of Greek origin, meaning "pure and bright".
Name Census estimates that about 1,324 living Americans carry the first name Kandyce. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Kandyce today is around 35 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kandyce births was 1991 (60 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kandyce. 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
1.3K
~ 1 in 258,878 Americans
Peak year
1991
60 babies that year
Average age
35
years old
2019 SSA rank
#13,089
Tracked since 1946
Census
Kandyce in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,167 people with the first name Kandyce, which placed it at #11,134 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
#11,134
National first-name rank
People counted
1.2K
1,167 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
53.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kandyce
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kandyce is White at 53.0%. The next largest groups are Black (29.2%) and Hispanic (8.6%). 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 Kandyce 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 Kandyce at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White53.0% · 618
- Black or African American29.2% · 341
- Hispanic or Latino8.6% · 100
- Two or more races6.6% · 77
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.8% · 21
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 10
Popularity
Kandyce: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kandyce from the 1940s through to the 2010s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 400 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1980s peak, Kandyce remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Kandyce 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 Kandyce during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kandyces live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. California, Texas, Florida recorded the most babies named Kandyce, while Louisiana, Florida, Texas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 57 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Kandyce
The name Kandyce is a modern variation of the ancient Greek name Kandake, which was the title given to the queens of the ancient Nubian kingdom of Kush, located in what is now Sudan. The name Kandake is derived from the Meroitic word "kdke," which means "queen" or "royal woman."
The Nubian kingdom of Kush was a powerful and influential civilization that flourished along the Nile River in present-day Sudan from around 2500 BCE to 350 CE. The Kandakes were the ruling queens of this kingdom, and they were revered for their strength, wisdom, and leadership.
One of the most famous Kandakes in history was Amanirenas, who ruled Kush in the 1st century BCE. She led her armies in a successful rebellion against the Roman Empire, and her exploits were recorded by ancient historians such as Strabo and Pliny the Elder.
Another notable Kandake was Amanishakheto, who ruled in the 1st century CE and is known for her impressive pyramids and monuments in the ancient city of Meroe, the capital of Kush.
The name Kandyce was first recorded in English-speaking countries in the 20th century, likely as a modern variant of the ancient Kandake. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Kandyce was Kandyce Fields, an American actress born in 1938.
Other notable historical figures with the name Kandyce include Kandyce Semien Norris, an American social worker and community activist who was born in 1942, and Kandyce Jacobs, a Canadian writer and academic born in 1954.
While the name Kandyce is relatively rare, it has a rich and fascinating history that dates back to the ancient Nubian civilization of Kush and the powerful queens who ruled over it.
People
Kandyce + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kandyce as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with K
Other first names starting with K with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Kandyce: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kandyce?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,324 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kandyce 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 258,878 US residents.
Is Kandyce a common name?
We classify Kandyce as "Rare". It ranks above 91.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,428 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kandyce most popular?
The single biggest year for Kandyce was 1991, when 60 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kandyce is about 35 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kandyce in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,167 people with the name Kandyce, or 0.39 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #11,134 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 Kandyce 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 Kandyce?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kandyce appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,172 people counted with this name, 99.6% 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 Kandyce?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kandyce is White at 53.0%. The next largest groups are Black (29.2%) and Hispanic (8.6%). 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 Kandyce most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Kandyce in the 2020 Census, accounting for 53.0% (618 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 Kandyce in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kandyce a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Kandyce 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 Kandyce still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kandyce 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 Kandyce 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 Kandyce?
See how many people have the name Kandyce on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.