Kan

Chinese 阚: from the name of a place called Kan which existed during the Spring and Autumn period (722–481 BC) in the state of Lu, in present-day Shandong province. Some residents adopted the place name as their surname.

Chinese 甘: variant of Gan 1.

Czech (Káň): from kanit meaning ‘to slobber or slaver’ and by extension ‘to gossip’, hence a nickname for a gossip.

Czech: nickname from káně ‘buzzard’.

German: derivative of the personal name Konrad.

Jewish (Ashkenazic): one of the many forms of Cohen.

Dutch: from Middle Dutch kan(ne), can(ne) ‘tankard’, ‘flagon’, ‘pitcher’, hence a metonymic occupational name for a maker of such vessels: a potter or a pewterer.

Reduced form of Dutch van de Kan: habitational name for someone from De Kan in Veurne or a place called Kanne.