Cady
A surname that likely began as a medieval pet form of Cade, with some later Scottish and Irish forms influenced by Gaelic names.
The #3,910 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 33,988 Americans shares it.
Etymology
In English records, Cady is treated as a surname from the personal name Cade, essentially meaning “son of Cade” or descended from Cade. The name Cade itself appears in medieval place-names and records, and some 19th-century writers linked it with an old personal name rather than with a common noun. Separate Scottish and Irish lines may have been influenced by Gaelic names such as Mac Cadie / Mac Cady, so not every bearer of the surname necessarily shares the same origin.
History
Bardsley and related surname dictionaries list Cady alongside Cade and Caddy as medieval English name-forms found in old records. The name also appears in Scotland and Ireland in forms that were sometimes adapted from Gaelic patronymics, which means the spelling can hide more than one family origin. In the United States, Cady became established as a relatively uncommon surname and is now most familiar there.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Early surname writers sometimes connected Cady with a supposed old personal name Cade that survives in English place-names like Cadeby.
From the historical record
“Cydwell. CADY. Co-did, in Gaelic, the house of God. There is a com- monalty of Switzerland called Gotthespunt, or Casdee, i. e., the house of God. Cadie, in the Scottish, is an errand-boy, a messenger. 3AETH. (Welsh.) A captive. OAEN". (Welsh and Gaelic.) Chaste, beloved, fair, beautiful. CAIRN. (Cor. Br.) Local A…”
— An Etymological Dictionary of Family and Christian Names