Cade

Cade is a surname that is now being used as a given name for boys. The origin of the surname is less than romantic though; it was originally a nickname that came from a word that meant "round" or "lump-like." (Rather in the same way that "Shorty" is a modern nickname that comes from a word that means "not tall.") According to Ask Oxford the use of Cade as a given name is due to "Cade Calvert," a character from the Margaret Mitchell book Gone With The Wind. That may be so, but personally I think that Cade would have probably found its way into use as a given name anyway--it just has that "sound" and that "look" that many parents in recent years have seemed to gravitate toward when naming their babies. The name is far from overused at this point, not quite even in the top 200 in the U.S., and it is a good-looking and good-sounding name, so I'd definitely put it in the recommended list. The only real downside is that original meaning of the name, but with any luck, by the time other kids are old enough to look up a name meaning they will also be too old to tease based on the information. Cade is also a wonderful name for a big dog.