Once Upon a Time Baby Names

Most are familiar with the Calla lily, but not as many know of the Canna lily, from the family Cannaceae. This girl's name is from Greek kanna , meaning "cane, reed." However, there’s a bit more to this undiscovered gem. She’s also Saint Canna of 6th century Wales, and a place name from Italy, Scotland and Australia.  Saint Canna was said to be the daughter of the Breton king Tudur Mawr, and one of her children became Saint Elian. Using information provided by the Scottish Place Name Society ( https://spns.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Alan_James_Brittonic_Language_in_the_Old_North_BLITON_Volume_II_Dictionary_2019_Edition.pdf ) and going by the age of Saint Canna, it is possible her name meant “shine, bright.” Three places were later named for her. Pontcanna and Canton, in Cardiff, and Ffynnon Ganna in Wales.  As a benefit, it appears Canna is as rare as she seems, with use beginning in the 2000’s and last given to only 5 girls in the U.S. 

Cyan is a color, and although we learn its name in elementary school there is very little real-life use of the word, making it an excellent choice for a baby name. Red and Blue have probably seen more use than other color names, while flower plus color names like Rose and Violet are usually very popular. Other double-meaning color names like Emerald, Sienna, Copper and Sage exist as well, each with varying degrees of popularity.  Cyan was given to 27 girls and 18 boys in 2019, proving how unisex it can be. It sounds and looks like Ryan and Cheyenne all at the same time. Cyan started being used around 1986 when it first popped up on the SSA with 5 girls. Its peak was 1998 with 98 girls. Cyanne, which came into use around 1994 and was last given to 7 girls in 2017, and Cyanna which appeared in 1993 and was last given to 11 girls in 2019, can also be found alongside the spelling variant Cyann, which came to life at the same time but had always been used less   Cyan, meaning “greenish-blue