Canaan

Where Canaan comes from

Taken (at least as early as Wycliffe's Bible, 1382-1395, which has Chanaan) from Ecclesiastical Latin Chanaān, from Ancient Greek Χαναάν (Khanaán), expanded from Χνᾶ (Khnâ), from Biblical Hebrew כְּנַעַן (kanáʕan). The first vowel shifted from /aː/ to /eɪ/ in the Great Vowel Shift; at least as early as Milton (1660s), the word could already be pronounced with two syllables, though at least as late as the 1880s it could also be pronounced with three, /ˈkeɪ.nə.æn/.
— Wiktionary's entry for Canaan
  • Hebrew
  • 2 syllables
Along the way
  1. 1936
    Canaan Banana born
    1st President of Zimbabwe
  2. 1973
    First appearance
    #4,505 among boys, 6 babies — the first year at least five got the name.
  3. 1982
    Canaan Smith born
    American country singer
  4. 2016
    Peak, #669
    385 babies named Canaan — more than any year before or since.
  5. 2023
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births — down to #1,111.
In the dictionary
  • A male given name from Hebrew of biblical origin.
Namesakes
  • Canaan Banana · 1st President of Zimbabwe, 1936–2003
  • Canaan Smith · American country singer, born 1982

Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record.