From Latin 'candidus' meaning white or pure; also linked to Ethiopian title Kandake (queen).
Candice is a variant spelling of Candace, a name with one of the most fascinating origins in the English-speaking name canon. *Kandake* (romanized as Candace) was not originally a personal name at all — it was a royal title used by the queens of the ancient Kingdom of Kush (in present-day Sudan and Ethiopia), roughly equivalent to 'queen mother' or 'queen regent.' The title appears in classical Greek and Roman sources, and most famously in the Acts of the Apostles in the New Testament, where a treasurer of 'Candace, queen of the Ethiopians' is baptized by Philip the Evangelist — a passage that carried the name into Christian consciousness for centuries.
The name also acquired a separate etymological association with the Latin *candidus*, meaning 'white, pure, radiant,' which reinforced its positive connotations in European cultures. This double heritage — African royal title and Latin luminosity — gave Candace/Candice a remarkable cross-cultural resonance. The spelling Candice gained particular currency in the twentieth century United States, propelled by the actress Candice Bergen (born 1946), whose decades-long career and Emmy-winning role in *Murphy Brown* kept the name visible and stylish.
Candice reached peak popularity in American naming charts during the 1960s and 1970s, when it felt simultaneously glamorous and approachable. Today it has the comfortable warmth of a mid-century classic — recognizable without being ubiquitous, carrying the quiet authority of its ancient royal origins alongside a breezy, mid-century American confidence.