Cady last name popularity, history, and meaning

Find out how popular the last name Cady is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Cady.

Meaning of Cady

Derived from the French surname Cadeiz, likely referring to someone from the town of Cadiz in southern Spain.

Cady, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Cady surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Cady in America

Cady is the 3910th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Cady surname appeared 9,084 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 3 people would have the surname Cady.

We can also compare 2010 data for Cady to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

2010 2000 Change (%)
Rank 3910 3724 4.87%
Count 9,084 8,745 3.80%
Proportion per 100k 3.08 3.24 -5.06%

The history of the last name Cady

The surname Cady is of French origin, deriving from the Old French word "cade," which means "barrel" or "cask." It is believed to have originated in the region of Normandy, France, during the medieval period.

The earliest recorded instances of the name date back to the early 12th century. It is found in medieval records, such as the Domesday Book, which was commissioned in 1086 by King William the Conqueror. The Domesday Book mentions a family with the surname Cady residing in the village of Cadney, Lincolnshire, England.

The name Cady is also believed to have derived from various place names, such as Cadys, a small village in Normandy, France, or Cadix, an old spelling of the Spanish city Cadiz. This suggests that the name may have been adopted by individuals who hailed from these locations or resided near them.

One of the earliest known individuals bearing the surname Cady was Robert Cady, a Norman nobleman who lived in the 12th century. He is mentioned in the Pipe Rolls of Normandy, which were administrative records kept by the English Crown.

In the 13th century, a notable figure named William Cady was a member of the English gentry and served as a knight in the service of King Edward I. He is recorded as having participated in the Welsh Wars and the Scottish Wars of Independence.

During the 16th century, the Cady family established themselves in the county of Somerset, England. John Cady, born in 1542, was a prominent landowner and held the position of High Sheriff of Somerset in 1589.

Another significant figure was Samuel Cady, born in 1619 in Wethersfield, Essex, England. He later emigrated to the Massachusetts Bay Colony in the 1630s and became one of the founders of the town of Groton, Connecticut.

In the 18th century, Jeremiah Cady, born in 1727 in Connecticut, was a distinguished American lawyer and politician. He served as a delegate to the Continental Congress and was a strong advocate for American independence during the Revolutionary War.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Cady

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Cady.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

  1. White only
  2. Black only
  3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
  4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
  5. Hispanic
  6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Cady was:

Race/Ethnicity Percentage Total Occurrences
Non-Hispanic White Only 93.08% 8,455
Non-Hispanic Black Only 1.74% 158
Non-Hispanic Asian and Pacific Islander Only 0.80% 73
Non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaskan Native 0.67% 61
Non-Hispanic of Two or More Races 1.37% 124
Hispanic Origin 2.34% 213

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Cady has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

2010 2000 Change (%)
White 93.08% 93.58% -0.54%
Black 1.74% 1.85% -6.13%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.80% 1.04% -26.09%
American Indian and Alaskan Native 0.67% 0.59% 12.70%
Two or More Races 1.37% 1.32% 3.72%
Hispanic 2.34% 1.61% 36.96%

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Cady was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Cady, please contact us.

Reference this page

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If you found the data or information on this page useful in your research, please use the tool below to properly cite or reference Name Census as the source. We appreciate your support!

"Cady last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com. Accessed on October 6, 2024. http://namecensus.com/last-names/cady-surname-popularity/.

"Cady last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com, http://namecensus.com/last-names/cady-surname-popularity/. Accessed 6 October, 2024

Cady last name popularity, history, and meaning. NameCensus.com. Retrieved from http://namecensus.com/last-names/cady-surname-popularity/.

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