Cane Family History

English (of Norman origin): habitational name from Caen in Calvados (France). See also Cain and Cam. English: from a Middle English survival of the Old English personal name Cana which is probably of ancient Germanic origin.

English: nickname for a tall thin man from Middle English Old French cane ‘cane reed’ (from Latin canna). It may also be a metonymic occupational name for someone who gathered reeds which were widely used in the Middle Ages as a floor covering, as roofing material, and for weaving small baskets.

Irish (Mayo) and Scottish: shortened Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Catháin or Mac Catháin; see Kane. Italian (northern; Canè): habitational name from a place called Canè in Brescia.

Italian (southern; Canè): occupational name for a basket maker or the like from Greek kanna ‘reed’ + the occupational suffix -(e)as. French: from a Norman and Picard variant of chane a term denoting a particular type of elongated pitcher (ultimately from Latin canna ‘reed’); hence possibly a metonymic occupational name for a potter who specialized in making such jugs or a nickname for someone who resembled one.

French (Cané): topographic name from Gascon caner from Latin canna ‘reed’. Albanian: from Cane, a vernacular short form of the Muslim personal name Hasan. Americanized form of an unidentified German surname most likely Köhn (see Kohn). Compare Kane.