Unisex name
Canaan
6,167 births (United States, 1880–2025), peaking in 2016. Expression number: 7.
Origin
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/.From Wiktionary, entry “Canaan”, text under CC BY-SA 4.0.
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How many babies received it
From the official birth registers.
In the United States
Peak in 2016: 385 births. 6,167 births from 1880 to 2025. A name given mostly in the 2000s, 2010s and 2020s. It is given to girls (5%) as well as boys (95%). It really came into use around 1980. It is still given: 1,103 births from 2021 to 2025.
Source: Social Security Administration, Popular Baby Names, public domain.
The numbers of the name
Each letter has a value: A = 1, B = 2… I = 9, then J = 1 again (Pythagorean method). We add them up, then reduce to a single digit, except 11, 22 and 33.
■ vowel · ■ consonant
Expression
All the letters: talents, the way you act.
7
reflection, inner life, seeking
3 + 1 + 5 + 1 + 1 + 5 = 16 → 7
Soul
The vowels: what drives you deep down.
3
expression, creativity, sociability
1 + 1 + 1 = 3
Personality
The consonants: what others notice first.
4
work, structure, stability
3 + 5 + 5 = 13 → 4
- Digits missing from the name
- 2, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9
- Most frequent digit
- 1 · initiative, independence, beginnings
The meaning of the numbers comes from numerological tradition; it isn't a measure of your personality. A full portrait needs your first and middle names, your last name at birth, and your date of birth. How we calculate
Your name and theirs
The number of each name, and the number of the bond, which comes from adding them together. A symbolic game: what your two names say together, to be read as a metaphor, not as a verdict on your relationship.