Today’s name is either an interesting surname choice, or another morph of the super-trendy monolithic girls name MaKaylalyencelee.
Cady caught our eye a zillion years ago as the maiden name of abolitionist and suffragette Elizabeth Cady Stanton. She died before women were granted the vote – and long before women were viable candidates for the Presidency of the United States. But her work for racial and gender equity, and for human rights, broadly defined, lives on.
But would her name wear well on a girl today?
Cady should be an impeccable hero name choice. In fact, it was the name of Lindsey Lohan’s character in Mean Girls. Yes, the flick was about skulduggery in high school hallways. But that modern Cady ultimately proved herself more heroic than mean – and deserving of the moniker.
Trouble is that Cady is positioned to be either mistaken for Katie – a lovely, but maddeningly common nickname – or perceived as a variation on Caidhen, Caydence, Kailee, Caitlyn, Kaylynn, Kaela and on and on and on.
While Cady does not appear in the Top 1000 names for girls born in the US, most of those other names do – at least in some form. In fact, Cadence was the 199th most popular choice for baby girls in 2007.
Despite those considerable negatives, Cady still strikes us as a legitimate hero name, and a surname choice that works wonderfully well for a daughter. And, of course, there’s always the middle spot – where we discovered Cady in first place.
My name is Cady and I HATE it. It’s not special because it sounds like “Katie” and those are a dime a dozen, and even though it’s a little different you’ll still be “Katie D.” Or “Cady M.” etc at school, except without the convenience of people that you don’t know getting your name right on the first try (Caddy, Cody, Candy are common mistakes). Every form someone else fills out for you will start with a “C” scratched over a “K” even though you said from the beginning, “It’s Cady, spelled C-A-D-Y”, which doesn’t sound like a big deal until your name is spelled wrong on your license, your credit card, school enrollment, or a representative “can’t find you” in a system you know you have an account in and they just didn’t listen to you the first, second, and third time you spelled it for them. Also, get used to saying that phrase, because every time you talk to any account person in any situation possible, you’ll be saying it. Your name isn’t Cady, it’s actually, “Cady, spelled C-A-D-Y”. And get used to people saying, “I’m gonna call you Caddy” because of the movie Mean Girls 2/3 times you meet someone new in a social situation and they’re feeling oh-so creative and hilari-o. Also get used to Mean Girls quotes all the time in general–actually just memorize them all because of you forget one that someone says to you then you’re weird, bc obviously you should know ALL OF THEM because the main character has your name. Also be prepared for a lot of people to not know the movie at all when they “don’t get” your name and you try to show them an example. Further, to me it reads as a child’s name. At least with Katie, as you grow older and are trying to be taken seriously professionally, and not patronized as women often are without a childlike name, you could be called Kate or Katherine or something. This name isn’t sexy, it isn’t strong sounding, and NO ONE KNOWS WHO ELIZABETH CADY STANTON IS ANYWAY. It’s more known for the movie or for the cheese company/as a last name. I hate my mom for naming me this name. It’s so stupid and I’ve always hated it. I would change my name legally, but it’s too much of a hassle and I feel weird naming myself. I can’t have any type of nick name from this name either, it’s just Cady. And everyone will ask if it’s short for something and when it’s not they’re just like, “Oh, interesting.” and I can’t put any of my own personal spin on what I want to be called because it’s SO plain. Even C-C doesn’t work because it’s the hard K sound. Cade is a boys name. And that’s about all the variations there is!
Don’t try to be cutesy with your kids names unless you really think about what their life will be like navigating through life with said name. My mom saw an article of Elizabeth Cady Stanton in the hospital when she had me (alone bc my dad is an a-hole) and so she named me after her because of the feminist component of it, which I find self serving. She didn’t think of ME when she named me. She thought of her situation. And my middle name is June after my great grandma who I don’t even know. So that’s a dead end.
Any suggestions are more than welcome.
My name is Cady, and I love it. I was named after my great-great-great grandparents, Evajane and Jerome P. Cady. Jerome fought for the Union in the Civil War, and I love having a name tied to such exciting family history. I have gone through countless botched attempts at my name, including Caddie, Candy, Katie, and Cody. However, I don’t mind because it sets me apart just a little. Whenever someone messes up my name, I tell them that it rhymes with Lady. A lot of people also tell me that that they like the spelling of my name, which also makes me feel special. I do appreciate having a name that’s pronounced normally though, because in casual conversation I don’t have to go though the explanation of spelling it. I love being a Cady!
I tend to agree – in the middle spot, it’s an appealing hero name. In the driver’s seat, it’s a life sentence of “My name is Cady. Let me spell it.”
Still, parents seem to crave ordinary names with a twist – so better one with history than yet another creative respelling of M’Kaelah – groan!
I think it’s a really cool middle name. I wouldn’t use it for a first name because of the dearth of Katies in my generation. Despite having a very respectable namesake, it still sounds a bit too cutesy for me. I love the idea, though, and it would be a nifty middle name.