Trace is an English name that began as a short form of Tracy, a Norman surname from the village of Tracy-Bocage, though most Americans hear the word itself: a "track" or "trail" left behind. The country singer Trace Adkins gave it its current cowboy flavor. Trace ranked number 551 in 2000, peaked at number 496 in 2003 and has hovered between number 670 and number 840 over the last decade, at number 758 in 2025.