| ![Show Contents]() Cahan History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms
- Origins Available:
 Ireland Israel The surname Cahan originally appeared in Gaelic as "O Cathain" or "Mac Cathain." Early Origins of the Cahan familyThe surname Cahan was first found in County Londonderry (Irish: Doire), a Northern Irish county also known as Derry, in the province of Ulster. At one time, the areas was named O'Cahan Country. Early History of the Cahan familyThis web page shows only a small excerpt of our Cahan research. Another 130 words (9 lines of text) covering the years 1172, 1196, 1617, 1631, 1641, 1644, 1680, 1697, 1709, 1714, 1730, 1754, 1757, 1781 and 1819 are included under the topic Early Cahan History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible. Cahan Spelling VariationsWithin the archives researched, many different spelling variations of the surname Cahan were found. These included One reason for the many variations is that scribes and church officials often spelled an individual's name as it sounded. This imprecise method often led to many versions. Keane, Kane, Kayne, Keaney, Keny, Keyne, O'Kane, O'Keane, O'Cahan, Cahan, Kean, O'Cain, McCloskey, McCluskey, McClaskey and many more. Early Notables of the Cahan familyProminent amongst the family at this time was - Ruaidri Dall Ó Catháin (fl. late 16th/early 17th century), an Irish harper and composer; and Echlin O'Kane, one of the most famous of all Irish Harpists. Manus O'Cahan's Regiment of Foot was a body of...
 Cahan migration to the United States | + |
To escape the religious and political discrimination they experienced primarily at the hands of the English, thousands of Irish left their homeland in the 19th century. These migrants typically settled in communities throughout the East Coast of North America, but also joined the wagon trains moving out to the Midwest. Ironically, when the American War of Independence began, many Irish settlers took the side of England, and at the war's conclusion moved north to Canada. These United Empire Loyalists, were granted land along the St. Lawrence River and the Niagara Peninsula. Other Irish immigrants settled in Newfoundland, the Ottawa Valley, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. The greatest influx of Irish immigrants, however, came to North America during the Great Potato Famine of the late 1840s. Thousands left Ireland at this time for North America and Australia. Many of those numbers, however, did not live through the long sea passage. These Irish settlers to North America were immediately put to work building railroads, coal mines, bridges, and canals. Irish settlers made an inestimable contribution to the building of the New World. Early North American immigration records have revealed a number of people bearing the Irish name Cahan or a variant listed above, including:
Cahan Settlers in United States in the 19th Century- Cath Cahan, aged 29, who arrived in New York in 1854 1
- Margaret Cahan, aged 50, who landed in New York in 1854 1
| Contemporary Notables of the name Cahan (post 1700) | + |
- Abraham "Abe" Cahan (1860-1951), Belarusian-born Jewish-American socialist newspaper editor, novelist, and politician
- Lawrence Louis Henry "Hank" Cahan (1933-1992), Canadian professional ice hockey player
- Charles Hazlitt Cahan PC, KC (1861-1944), Canadian lawyer, newspaper editor, businessman, and provincial and federal politician
The motto was originally a war cry or slogan. Mottoes first began to be shown with arms in the 14th and 15th centuries, but were not in general use until the 17th century. Thus the oldest coats of arms generally do not include a motto. Mottoes seldom form part of the grant of arms: Under most heraldic authorities, a motto is an optional component of the coat of arms, and can be added to or changed at will; many families have chosen not to display a motto.
Motto: Felis demulcta mitis
Motto Translation: A stroked cat is gentle.
- Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)
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Cahan migration to the United States 
