Candice

About Candice

Candice is an English spelling of Candace, a name taken from an ancient royal title. The title is usually connected with Meroitic kdke, probably meaning queen mother. Modern bearers such as Candice Bergen and Candice Patton give this old name a strong television presence.

A royal title behind the name

Candace appears in the New Testament book of Acts as a title associated with an African queen. Some Bible versions use Kandake, closer to the Greek written form. Its deeper explanation points to Meroitic rather than to the Latin words behind names such as Candida.

The title became a personal name in English after the Reformation, including among Puritans. Candice is one of the later established spellings within that family. Candis, Candyce, and Kandace are related variants.

English Candice is KAN-diss, with two syllables and stress at the beginning. Candi and Candy are familiar forms. The final -ice does not sound like the separate English word ice; it keeps the same ending as the usual two-syllable pronunciation of Candace.

Candice Bergen as Murphy Brown

Candice Bergen played Murphy Brown, a sharp, independent television news anchor whose work and personal life supplied the center of the comedy series bearing her name.

The performance brought five Emmy wins: in 1989, 1990, 1992, 1993, and 1995. Those repeated awards connect Candice with a sustained comic role rather than one brief television appearance.

Bergen later returned to television in Boston Legal in 2005, working alongside William Shatner and James Spader. She entered the Television Academy Hall of Fame in 2010. Her career gives the name a particularly clear association with American television across different decades and genres.

Murphy Brown's newsroom setting also makes the character distinct from Bergen herself. Candice is the performer's name; Murphy is the fictional journalist whose pointed personality made the role recognizable.

Candice Patton as Iris

Candice Patton plays Iris West-Allen in The Flash. The role places the name in another television setting, this time within a superhero story rather than a newsroom comedy.

Patton's work brought Teen Choice nominations, including recognition in breakout-star and action-actress categories. Her Iris supplies a different generational association from Bergen's Murphy Brown, while preserving the same given-name spelling in the credits.

The two performers illustrate how a name with an ancient title behind it can become familiar through quite different kinds of modern popular storytelling.

American popularity

Candice reached its strongest United States girls' ranking and largest annual count in 1982, at #78 with 3,791 births. In 1980 it was already in the top hundred, at #99 with 3,012 girls.

The name later declined to 324 girls in 2000 and 25 in 2025. Its strongest American period was therefore the late twentieth century, before the long quieter stretch that followed.

How popular is Candice?

In 2025, Candice ranked #5,124 among girls in the United States, with 25 recorded uses. The U.S. birth records first list this spelling for girls in 1925; its largest annual count was 3,791 in 1982. Rankings count each spelling separately. They describe national use, so local familiarity can differ. The popularity chart shows whether the name has remained common, returned after a quieter period, or risen recently.