# Canavan (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/canavan/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. Counts from the US Census Bureau; origin and etymology from Wiktionary; bearers from Wikidata. Data updated 2026-11-11.

A surname from Irish.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | Irish |
| Type | patronymic, formed from a father’s (or ancestor’s) given name |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 3,290 |
| US rank (2010) | 9,836 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 93,844 people |
| Change since 2000 | +3.2% (3,188 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |

## Etymology

Reduced Anglicized form of Irish Ó Ceanndubháin (“descendant of Ceanndubhán”), a personal name composed of the elements ceann (“head”), dubh (“black”) and the diminutive suffix -án.

## Who carries it

Share of people named Canavan in the 2010 US Census by the Census's own race and ethnicity groups. The Census suppresses a share when the count behind it is small.

| Group | Share |
|---|---|
| White (not Hispanic) | 94% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 0.2% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 2.9% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 1.2% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.4% |
| Two or more races | 1.0% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Canavan in Australia and the United States.

## People named Canavan

- Trudi Canavan, Australian writer
- Myrtelle Canavan, American physician

## Similar surnames

Champion, Campana, Campion, Campanella, Compean, Campanelli, Champine, Champney.

## How to read these numbers

A Census count is people alive and counted in 2010, not births, and names occurring fewer than 100 times are not published at all. Ethnicity shares are the Census's own categories.