Kannan ( ta, கண்ணன்) is a

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia ** Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nati ...

male given name. Due to a Tamil tradition of using patronymic surnames, it may also be a surname for males and females. The name is derived from the Hindu god

Krishna Krishna (; sa, कृष्ण ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme god in his own right. He is the god of protection, compassion, tenderness, and love; and is on ...

, who is offered the epithet of Kannan in Tamil, meaning, "the one who is to be seen".

Etymology

The word ''Kannan'' might come from the

Pali Pali () is a Middle Indo-Aryan liturgical language native to the Indian subcontinent. It is widely studied because it is the language of the Buddhist '' Pāli Canon'' or '' Tipiṭaka'' as well as the sacred language of '' Theravāda'' Bud ...

into Tamil during the classical period. In Pali, Kanha means dark or black, and the

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominalization, nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cul ...

equivalent will be Kṛṣṇa (

). In Tamil-speaking regions, Lord Krishna will be called Kanna(or with a masculine ending Kannan).The word might also have a ancient Tamil root ``Kanha``காண் + ணா = காணா, which means invisibe to physical eyes. The Paramatma is represented as dark to indicate his presence beyond things you see with your eyes (non-materialistic nature).

Notable people

Given name

Michael Kannan Sundaresan, writer, guitarist, musician Michael may refer to: People * Michael (given name), a given name * Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael Given name "Michael" * Michael (archangel), ''first'' of God's archangels in the Jewish, Christian and ...

, American Eastern-Indian * B. Kannan, Indian cinematographer *

K. Kannan Kuniuraman Kannan (sometimes spelt Kunjuraman Kannan), more popularly known as K. Kannan, is a Singaporean football forward who played for Singapore. He was in the Singapore squad in the 1984 Asian Cup. He also played for Jurong Town. He w ...

, Singaporean footballer *

Kannan (music director) Kannan is an Indian film music composer who worked in the Tamil film industry. He debuted in 2010 with ''Thamizh Padam''. Career Kannan studied at Music College before beginning his career as a guitarist in 1988. Over the course of a decade, ...

, Indian film music composer *

Kannan Balakrishnan Kannan Balakrishnan (born 26 June 1964) is a classical musician and veena exponent from Chennai, India, in the Carnatic Music genre. He is also a vocalist and exponent of the instruments Mridangam, Suddha Madhalam and the Ganjira. He is also k ...

(born 1964), Indian musician *

Kannan Iyer Kannan Iyer is an Indian filmmaker and actor. He has written films like ''Daud'' (1997) and ''Victory'' (2009); and has also directed a supernatural thriller, ''Ek Thi Daayan'', starring Emraan Hashmi, Konkona Sen Sharma and Huma Qureshi. The ...

, Indian film writer and actor *

Kannan Soundararajan Kannan Soundararajan (born December 27, 1973) is an India-born American mathematician and a professor of mathematics at Stanford University. Before moving to Stanford in 2006, he was a faculty member at University of Michigan where he pursued ...

, Indian mathematician *

M. Kannan M. Kannan was an Indian politician and former Member of the Legislative Assembly of Tamil Nadu. He was elected to the Tamil Nadu legislative assembly from Kandamangalam constituency as an Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam candidate in 1977, and 1980 ...

, Indian politician * P. Kannan, Indian politician from Tamil Nadu * P. Kannan , Indian politician from Puducherry *

R. Kannan R. Kannan (born Rajmohan on 21 July 1971) is an Indian filmmaker. He made his directorial debut with the successful Tamil film '' Jayamkondaan'' starring Vinay Rai and Bhavana in 2008. Career Kannan started his career assisting director Manoba ...

(born 1975), Indian film director *

S. P. Kannan S. P. Kannan is an Indian politician and former Member of the Legislative Assembly of Tamil Nadu. He was elected to the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly as a Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam candidate from Anaicut constituency in the 1989 election T ...

, Indian politician *

Srirangam Kannan Srirangam Kannan (born 5 May 1952) is an Indian musician and artist, known for playing the morsing. He has a degree in mathematics. Profile Vidwan Srirangam S. Kannan was born on 5 May 1952 in Srirangam to K Sathyamurthy and Kamalam. Growing up ...

(born 1952), Indian musician * Vedham Puthithu Kannan, Indian filmmaker

Surname

Biju C. Kannan Biju C. Kannan is an Indian film director who works in Malayalam films. Filmography * 2004 - '' Chayam'' * 2007 - ''Thadha'' * 2009 - ''Sakshi'' * 2012 - ''Kadha mouna mozhi'' * 2014 - ''Iruvazhi Thiriyunnidam'' References Malayalam fil ...

, Indian film director *

Beena Kannan Beena Kannan is an Indian business woman, who is the CEO and lead designer of Seematti textiles. Career After university, she joined the family textile retailing business 'Seematti' in 1980, working with her father and husband. Seematti was st ...

(born 1960), Indian businesswoman *

Bharathi Kannan S.Bharathi Kannan is an Indian film director, who has directed Tamil films. He was primarily active in the 1990s and early 2000 and is most noted for his work on devotional films. Career He started his career in 1981, joining as an assistant d ...

(born 1962), Indian film director * Embar Kannan (born 1975), Indian musician *

Kanal Kannan Kanal Kannan (born as V. Kannan) is an Indian actor, action choreographer and screenwriter who works in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, and Hindi films. He has worked with actors Mammootty, Prithviraj , Unni Mukundan,Ajith Kumar, Vijay, Arj ...

, Indian film choreographer * Ravi Kannan R Indian oncologist and Padma Shri awardee * Ravindran Kannan (born 1953), Indian computer scientist * Siddharth Kannan, Indian broadcaster *

Yaar Kannan Yaar Kannan is an Indian film director and screenwriter who has worked on Tamil films. He made his debut with the 1985 with the horror film '' Yaar?'' and regularly collaborated with Ramarajan in the late 1980s. Career After assisting Mahend ...

, Indian film director

Other uses

Films

* ''

Kannan En Kadhalan ''Kannan En Kadhalan'' () is a 1968 Indian Tamil-language film, directed by P. Neelakantan, produced and written by R. M. Veerappan, starring M. G. Ramachandran, Jayalalithaa and Vanisri. It was released on 25 April 1968. Plot Kannan is th ...

'', 1968 Tamil film * ''

Kannan Varuvaan ''Kannan Varuvaan'' () is a 2000 Indian Tamil-language film written and directed by Sundar C. The film stars Karthik, Manthra and Divya Unni, while Goundamani, Senthil, Manorama, Ranjith and Radha Ravi play supporting roles. The music was co ...

'', 2000 Tamil film

Places

Kannan Devan Hills Kannan Devan Hills is a large village located in Devikulam taluk of Idukki district in the Indian state of Kerala. The village of Kannan Devan Hills in Devikulam Taluk, was given on lease on 11 July 1877 by the Poonjar Thampuran to John D ...

, village in Kerala, India

References

{{Surname Tamil masculine given names