Cannon Family History

Irish: Anglicized form of Ó Canann or Ó Canáin ‘descendant of Cano or Canán’. Occasionally and in the Isle of Man the surname derives from Mac Canann ‘son of Cano or Canán’ which in Ireland was Anglicized McCann or McConnon. See also Connon. The personal name is from Gaelic cano ‘wolf cub’ of which Canán is a diminutive.

In Ulster Cannon may also be shortened from Ó Canannáin ‘descendant of Canannán’ a pet form (double diminutive) of the personal name. This was a chieftain family in Donegal and the name was particularly common there.

English: from Middle English canun ‘canon’ (Old Norman French canonie, canoine from Late Latin canonicus). In medieval England this term denoted a clergyman living with others in a clergy house; the surname is mostly an occupational name for a servant in a house of canons although it could also be a nickname or even a patronymic.

French: variant of Canon.