Canaan

Boy name

Canaan has been given to 6,167 babies in the U.S. since 1973. It peaked in 2016.

Meaning & origin /ˈkeɪnən/

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/.

Origin: Hebrew

Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Popularity over time births per year, 1880–2025

Hover or tap the chart to read any year.

Total babies

6,167

Peak year

2016 (385 babies)

Rank in 2025

Below top 1000

First recorded

1973

10-year trend

▼ -27%

Gender split

5% girls / 95% boys

Names with a similar vibe

Same primary gender, peaked around the same years, and roughly as common as Canaan.

6,167 babies since 1913

6,172 babies since 1890

6,181 babies since 1972

6,146 babies since 1917

6,190 babies since 1913

6,290 babies since 1965

6,039 babies since 1990

6,311 babies since 1905

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