Canas
Likely a nickname surname from a word meaning “gray-haired” or “white-haired.”
The #6,937 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 63,896 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The name is most plausibly connected with Iberian words built on Latin canus, meaning “gray-haired,” “hoary,” or “white.” In Spanish and related languages, canas can refer to gray hairs, so the surname likely began as a descriptive nickname for an older or gray-haired person. The related form Canosa in the excerpt supports this broad “gray/white-haired” family of names.
History
The excerpts suggest the surname was already in use in medieval Galicia, where a man styled Mani(o) cognomento Canas is recorded in a 12th-century document. That points to an early nickname origin later inherited as a family surname. The name is still found in the Spanish-speaking world and in the United States, especially through Hispanic immigration.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The Latin root behind this surname also gave English the word canescent, meaning “turning gray.”
From the historical record
“Canina El escremento del perro. Canícula. Cano. Lleno de canas Anciano. Blanco. Canosa. Que tiene muchas canas. Canteros. Los que labran las piedras. Estremo de ciertas cosas duras. Parte de una heredad.”
— Diccionario de los apellidos