Canaan

Meanings

1. A historic region of the Middle East, roughly equivalent to Palestine/Israel.
2. A grandson of Noah.
3. A male given name from Hebrew of biblical origin.
4. The name of multiple places in North America named after the historic region, including:
5. A town in Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States.
6. A town in Grafton County, New Hampshire, United States.
7. A number of townships in the United States, listed under Canaan Township.

Etymology

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 Hebrew כְּנַעַן (k'ná'an). 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/.