Given name & surname · also Latin
Canaan
“land of purple”
Canaan is a masculine given name from Ecclesiastical Latin, ultimately from Biblical Hebrew.
Original Hebrewכנען
Meaning & origin
What it means
As a biblical name, Canaan means “land of purple.”
From biblical name research
Where it comes from
Canaan comes from Ecclesiastical Latin, and ultimately from Biblical Hebrew.
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
How it developed
From Ecclesiastical Latin Chanaān, from Ancient Greek Χαναάν, from Biblical Hebrew כְּנַעַן (kanáʕan).
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1973. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
In the Bible
In the Bible, the name Canaan appears in Genesis 9:18, Deuteronomy 7:1, 1 Chronicles 1:13 and 4 other passages.
- Genesis 9:18
- Deuteronomy 7:1
- 1 Chronicles 1:13
- Joshua 10:1
- 2 Samuel 5:6
- Acts 7:11
- Matthew 15:22
From biblical name research
Canaan through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 6,167
- 5,843 boys · 324 girls
- Most popular year
- 2016
- 385 babies
- 2025
- 218
- #1,044 for boys · #13,520 for girls
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- −27%
- Easing
Boys, girls and both
The balance of boys and girls given this name has shifted over time. Recent births are 98% boys.
Where it’s given
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 212 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 1,044 among boys’ names. Average annual use for boys was 26.8% lower in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. Its largest published annual count for boys was 385 in 2016. It also appeared in 6 birth records for girls in 2025. In 2025, North Carolina had the largest reported state-level birth count for boys with this name (19). Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 4,298 as a first name in 2020; 789 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Canaan’s family of names
Canaan may belong to the same name family as CANNAAN. This is a tentative spelling connection.
Inner ring: spellings · outer: nicknames and forms.
Nicknames & forms 1
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Spellings & scripts 3
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
See also 1
Names our sources mention alongside this one. They are related in story or meaning, not forms of this name.
People named Canaan
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love Canaan, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
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Asser
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“loyal, faithful”
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Hashem
Hashem is a given name from Biblical Hebrew. It is used in French.
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“the bronze-colored one”
>99% boys