Cade
Likely from an old personal name, though some once linked it to the word for a small cask.
The #4,226 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 36,795 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The surname Cade is usually treated as coming from an early personal name, with the sense of “descendant of Cade” or “son of Cade.” Historical surname writers also noted place-names such as Cadeby and other old forms that seem to preserve the same personal name. A traditional alternative explanation connects it with Middle English cade, meaning a barrel or cask, but that derivation is treated cautiously and is not clearly established.
History
The name appears in English records early enough to have produced several surname spellings and related local names. Bardsley notes Cade as a baptismal or personal-name based surname, while Lower says the barrel explanation may be doubtful. The surname is especially found in English records, including examples from counties such as Cambridgeshire, Lincolnshire, Sussex, and Yorkshire.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Jack Cade, the 15th-century rebel from Kent, is the best-known historical bearer of the name.
From the historical record
“ter and York. CADE. See illustrations of this name in Bug. Surn. i. 112. 202. Notwitlistand- ing Sliakspeare's allusion, it may be doubted whether the name is derived from cade, a barrel. Several Cades are men- tioned in H.R. "Without prefix. In addition to what I have said {ul sitp)-u) respect- ing the probable…”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom