Find out how popular the last name Kannan is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Kannan.

Kannan, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Kannan surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Kannan in America

Kannan is the 17980th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Kannan surname appeared 1,553 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 people would have the surname Kannan.

We can also compare 2010 data for Kannan to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Kannan

The surname Kannan has its origins in India, particularly in the southern regions of Tamil Nadu and Kerala. It is a name derived from the Tamil language and is believed to have emerged sometime around the 5th or 6th century CE.

One of the earliest known references to the name Kannan can be found in ancient Tamil literary works, such as the Sangam literature, which dates back to the early centuries of the common era. The name is thought to be related to the Tamil word "Kannan," which means "one with beautiful eyes" or "the one with lotus-like eyes."

In the medieval period, the name Kannan was closely associated with the worship of Lord Murugan, one of the most revered deities in Tamil Hindu culture. Many temples dedicated to Lord Murugan were constructed during this time, and it is likely that some individuals took on the name Kannan as a mark of devotion or association with these religious traditions.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Kannan can be found in the 11th century CE, when a Tamil scholar and poet named Kannan Adigal lived and composed works that are still celebrated today. Another notable figure bearing this surname was Kannan Devan, a 17th-century ruler of the Kolathunadu region in present-day Kerala.

During the 18th and 19th centuries, the name Kannan gained further prominence, with several individuals making significant contributions in various fields. For example, Kannan Nair (1718-1782) was a renowned Sanskrit scholar and poet from Kerala, while Kannan Devan Nair (1923-2008) was a prominent Singaporean politician and diplomat who served as the country's third President.

Other notable individuals with the surname Kannan include Kannan Ranganathan (1923-2015), an acclaimed Indian mathematician and computer scientist known for his contributions to the field of parallel computing, and Kannan Iyer (1936-2010), a renowned Indian classical musician and composer.

Throughout its history, the surname Kannan has been associated with various place names and older spellings. For instance, the town of Kannangudi in Tamil Nadu and the Kannanur region in Kerala are believed to be derived from this surname, reflecting the presence of individuals bearing this name in those areas.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Kannan

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Kannan.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Kannan was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Kannan has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Kannan was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Kannan, please contact us.

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