Wade

Wade has had a longer ride on the American popularity charts than one might think; not to mention a relatively successful one at that. This was surprising news to us, especially since we don’t think of Wade as a particularly common first name. Still, Wade dates back to at least the 19th century in America, which is as far back as the U.S. government first began tracking naming trends. Wade saw moderate success around the turn of the 20th century and maintained steady usage during the 1900s. The name’s peak popularity was achieved around the late 1960s and early 70s when it managed to fall inside the Top 200. By the 1980s, Wade started to show signs of aging and in the past 20 years, the name’s drops on the charts have become more pronounced, suggesting this little water baby is going out of style. There are a couple of things we think of when we hear the name Wade. For one, Wade Hampton Hamilton was the name of Scarlett O’Hara’s first baby in the novel “Gone with the Wind” (although the child was edited out in the 1939 film). He was named after a real-life Confederate commanding officer Wade Hampton III. Secondly we think of baseball Hall of Famer Wade Boggs who spent most of his career with the Boston Red Sox. Wade is a simple, unpretentious one-syllable name that has never been trendy or overused. It belongs on a boy who excels in sports or one who is confident yet laid back. Unlike Cade, Wade doesn’t sound like it’s trying so hard to be cool. It just is.