ESC Name Rank Total Searching... No names found Try searching for: Emma, Liam, Olivia, Noah... 1944 First Year 2024 Last Year 1965 Peak Year #709 Peak Rank 5K Total Count 76 Years Active 🌍 ## Meaning & Origin of Kandy What this name means, where it came from, and how it has traveled across cultures. Kandy is a major city located in the Central Province of Sri Lanka. It was the last capital of the Sinhalese monarchy from 1469 to 1818, under the Kingdom of Kandy. The city is situated in the midst of hills in the Kandy plateau. Kandy is the administrative capital of the Central Province, and considered as the cultural capital of Sri Lanka, due to its architectural heritage. Source: [Wikipedia ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kandy) (CC BY-SA 3.0). [Read more → ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kandy) 📜Etymology The city and the region have been known by many different names and versions of those names. Some scholars suggest that the original name of Kandy was Katubulu Nuwara located near the present Watapuluwa . However, the more popular historical name is Senkadagala or Senkadagalapura, officially Senkadagala Siriwardhana Maha Nuwara (meaning 'great city of Senkadagala of growing resplendence'), generally shortened to 'Maha Nuwara'. According to folklore, this name originated from one of the several possible sources. One being the city was named after a brahmin with the name Senkanda who lived in a 🏛️Origin & history See also: History of Sri Lanka [![Wikipedia thumbnail for Kandy](https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c2/SL_Kandy_asv2020-01_img04_Queens_Hotel.jpg/330px-SL_Kandy_asv2020-01_img04_Queens_Hotel.jpg?utm_source=en.wikipedia.org&utm_campaign=api&utm_content=thumbnail)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kandy) 📖 ## The Story of Kandy Kandy first appeared in U.S. Social Security Administration records as a baby girl name in 1944, with 13 babies given the name that year. The name hit its high-water mark in 1965: 193 births, good for #709 nationwide. About 32% of every Kandy on record arrived during the 1960s, its defining decade. Kandy last appeared in the published SSA data in 2024, with 6 recorded births — it has not charted nationally since. All told, over 5K Americans have carried the name since 1880, from the 1940s to the 2020s. ## Popularity Over Time ## Popularity by State ME WA MT ND MN WI MI NY VT NH MA OR ID SD IA IL IN OH PA NJ CT RI CA NV WY NE MO KY WV VA MD DE DC UT CO KS AR TN NC SC AK AZ NM OK LA MS AL GA HI TX FL Top 10 11-50 51-100 101-500 500+ No data 🎶 ## Names that sound like Kandy Phonetically similar names — useful when Kandy is the vibe but a different syllable count or letter feel might suit better. Linked entries have a profile on Peek a Name. * [Candy](/candy) * [Candie](/candie) * [Candi](/candi) * [Kandi](/kandi) * [Candee](/candee) * [Canda](/canda) * [Kindy](/kindy) * Canty * Cando * Candu * [Kanda](/kanda) * [Condie](/condie) Source: [Datamuse ](https://www.datamuse.com/api/). Phonetic similarity ranking, not curated. ❓ ## Frequently Asked Questions about Kandy What does the name Kandy mean? Kandy is a major city located in the Central Province of Sri Lanka. It was the last capital of the Sinhalese monarchy from 1469 to 1818, under the Kingdom of Kandy. The city is situated in the midst of hills in the Kandy plateau. Kandy is the administrative capital of the Central Province, and considered as the cultural capital of Sri Lanka, due to its architectural heritage. How popular is Kandy in 2026? In 2026, Kandy ranks #13,427 among girls' names in the U.S., with 6 babies given the name that year. When was Kandy most popular? Kandy reached its peak popularity in 1965, ranking #709 that year with 193 babies given the name. In which U.S. states is Kandy most popular? Kandy has historically been most popular in South Dakota, Idaho, Iowa. Rankings vary year to year, but these states show the strongest concentration of births named Kandy. Is Kandy a unisex name? In U.S. Social Security records, Kandy is primarily a girl's name. We don't have meaningful data for it as a boy's name. What names go well with Kandy? Names that share a similar style or popularity range with Kandy include Ivey, Jenni, Sherita. These pairings are based on rank proximity and naming era in U.S. data. ## Similar Names [👧IveyPeak #708](/ivey)[👧JenniPeak #708](/jenni)[👧SheritaPeak #708](/sherita)[👧RenadaPeak #708](/renada)[👧SkyPeak #710](/sky)[👧AmiaPeak #708](/amia)[👧BreannPeak #708](/breann)[👧CieloPeak #710](/cielo) ## About the name Kandy Kandy is a girl baby name tracked by the U.S. Social Security Administration. It first appeared in SSA records in 1944 and has accumulated 5K births in the dataset. Kandy's peak popularity came in 1965 when it ranked #709\. Use the chart and map above to compare Kandy's trajectory across years and U.S. states, or browse the related names section to discover similar choices. ### Continue exploring * [ Top names of 1965 → ](/year/1965) * [ Names of the 1960s → ](/decade/1960s) * [ Names starting with "K" → ](/letter/k) * [ Browse all girl names → ](/names/girls) * [ Top names of 2026 → ](/year/2026) Data sources * Birth statistics (counts, ranks, years 1880–2026) — U.S. [Social Security Administration ](https://www.ssa.gov/oact/babynames/). Predictions for years not yet released by SSA are computed by Peek a Name from historical trends; we update with official data as soon as it ships. * Etymology, cultural origins, and related forms — [Behind the Name ](https://www.behindthename.com/) (used under their public API terms). * Meaning prose and editorial summary — [Wikipedia ](https://en.wikipedia.org/) article extracts, licensed under [CC BY-SA 3.0 ](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/). * Predicted nationality distribution — [Nationalize.io ](https://nationalize.io/). * Phonetically similar names — [Datamuse ](https://www.datamuse.com/api/). Peek a Name aggregates and presents the above data for informational purposes. Statistical predictions and external attributions are clearly labelled where shown; we make no guarantee of accuracy beyond what each source provides.