Kanen History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

• Origins Available:
• Ireland

Etymology of Kanen

While the Anglicized versions of Irish names are often familiar to people, their Irish Gaelic heritage is often unknown. The original Gaelic form of the name Kanen is Ó Canain, from the word "cano," which means "wolf cub." 1

Early Origins of the Kanen family

Early History of the Kanen family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Kanen research. Another 156 words (11 lines of text) covering the years 1500, 1659 and 1687 are included under the topic Early Kanen History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Kanen Spelling Variations

The spelling of names in Ireland during the Middle Ages was rarely consistent. This inconsistency was due to the scribes and church officials' attempts to record orally defined names in writing. The common practice of recording names as they sounded resulted in spelling variations such as Cannon, O'Cannon, MacCannon, Cannan, Cannen, Cannin, MacCannan, McCannon, McCannan and many more.

Early Notables of the Kanen family

More information is included under the topic Early Kanen Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Kanen family

The 19th century saw a great wave of Irish migrating out of their homeland in a great measure due to the oppressive imperial policies of the English government and landowners. Many of these Irish families sailed to North America aboard overcrowded passenger ships. By far, the largest influx of Irish immigrants to North America occurred with Great Potato Famine during the late 1840s. These particular immigrants were instrumental in creation of the United States and Canada as major industrial nations because the many essential elements such as the roadways, canals, bridges, and railways required an enormous quantity of cheap labor, which these poor immigrants provided. Later generations of Irish in these countries also went on to make valuable contributions in such fields as the arts, commerce, politics, and education. Extensive research into immigration and passenger lists has revealed many early immigrants bearing the name Kanen: Edward and Ann Cannon who settled in Virginia in 1646; John Cannon settled in Barbados in 1660; another John settled in Jamaica in 1716; Alexander, Andrew, Anthony, Barney, Bernard, Bridget, Charles, Cornelius, Daniel Dennis, Edward, Ennis, George, Hugh, James, John, Mannis, Michael, Neal, Owen, Patrick, Philip, Thomas and William Cannon all settled in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania between 1772 and 1866.