Spellings

Canaan or Kanan?

In the US in 2025, 44% of babies in this name family were spelled Canaan and 40% Kanan. Same name, slightly different impression: here are the figures for each spelling.

Canaan44% of the family212 born in 2025#1,044 among boys−26% since 2015Kanan40% of the family194 born in 2025#1,108 among boys×5 since 2015Kanaan10% of the family49 born in 2025#2,641 among boys−6% since 2015Kanon6% of the family29 born in 2025#3,757 among boys−77% since 2015

Ten years ago

Canaan already led in 2015, with 57% of the family's births; it has 44% in 2025. All spellings together, the family went from 503 to 484 births, almost unchanged.

Births by spelling, 2015 and 2025
Spelling20152025Change
Canaan285212−26%
Kanan39194×5
Kanaan5249−6%
Kanon12729−77%

How they sound

All of these spellings are said the same way: /ˈkeɪnən/ (KAY-nun). So the choice is about how it looks: it is the spelling people will read on a birth card, a name tag or an email address, and the one your child will sometimes spell out.

In France

In France in 2025: Kanan 5 births and Kanaan 5 births. The other spellings are not given there often enough to be counted.

Sources: Social Security Administration (SSA), Insee (France), 2025 data. How we calculate these figures.

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