How rare is the name Canaan?

4,298 people in the United States have the first name Canaan, about 1 in 70,273. It ranks #4,375 of 53,615 first names in the 2020 Census, tied with 1 other.

first name

CANAAN

#4,375

of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census

People
4,298
About
1 in 70,273
This common or more
84%
Who bears it

Of the 4,298 people named Canaan, 66% reported their origin as White, 15.2% as Black and 8.6% as two or more races. 93% are male. These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.

Canaan peaked in 2016, when 385 babies got the name.

Births per year, SSA records 1880–2025
19732025
Peak year
2016
Births that year
385
In 2025*
218 ▼43%
Recorded as
almost entirely male

At least 6,167 babies have been given the name since 1973. Years SSA withheld, because fewer than 5 were born, are skipped rather than drawn as zero. * 2025 is the newest year published and it undercounts: a card application is filed some time after a birth.

Canaan by decade

Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 2010s, when it ranked #1,912. The largest share of babies named Canaan, 52.7%, were born in 2013 or later.

1970s#9,27382
1980s#5,676238
1990s#3,363709
2000s#2,6851,355
2010s#1,9122,449
2020s#2,0791,334
Generation X 1965–801.7%
Millennials 1981–9610.3%
Generation Z 1997–1235.3%
2013 and later52.7%

Rank counts both sexes together, among every name SSA recorded that decade; the number under it is births. The 2020s run only to 2025. Generation years follow Pew Research Center, which has not named a generation after 2012.

Where Canaan is most common

Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Canaan has been most common in Tennessee (4.3×), Kentucky (3×), and Alabama (2.9×), and least common in New York (0.19×).

3,826 births recorded by state, 1910–2025. 2× means twice as common as nationally. States with fewer than 30 such births are left blank, and SSA withholds any year with fewer than 5 in a state, so small states read low.

Exactly as common as Canaan

1 other first name also has 4,298 people.

#4,375 Madisen · 4,298

Either side of Canaan

#4,373 Apollo · 4,301#4,374 Rubin · 4,300#4,375 Madisen · 4,298#4,377 Brecken · 4,297

Spelled almost the same

2 first names in the 2020 Census spelled within a letter or two of Canaan, most common first.

#24,497 Canan · 393#31,632 Cannan · 270

Also a last name

As a last name, Canaan ranks #31,440 of 156,621, with 789 people. See Canaan as a last name

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