10,249 Global Canada Family Members

Canada Family History

This interesting surname has three possible sources; firstly, it may be of Old French origin, and is either a nickname for a tall, thin man, or a metonymic occupational name for someone who gathered reeds, which were needed in the Middle Ages as a floor covering, and for weaving small baskets, or a topographical name for someone who lived in a damp area overgrown with reeds. It derives from the Middle English "cane", a development of the Old French "cane", meaning cane, reed. Secondly, it may be a Norman locational name from the town of Caen, in Calvados, Normandy, named with the Gaulish elements "catu", battle, plus "magos" meaning field, plain.