Conant
A surname usually treated as an English/Irish name, but older writers also tried to link it with Welsh place-words and with the legendary name Conan.
The #6,333 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 57,324 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The most direct old explanation connects Conant with Conan, a personal name found in medieval and legendary tradition, so the surname could have begun as a patronymic meaning “son of Conan.” Other 19th-century writers offered different ideas, including a link to Welsh or Gaelic place-words such as nant, “valley” or “stream,” but those explanations are less secure. The surname has also been confused at times with spellings like Connant and Conand, and with related forms such as Cannon/Canon.
History
The name appears in English-language records in several spellings, and American bearers made it fairly visible in the 19th century. Because early surname writers disagreed about its root, Conant should be treated as a surname with more than one possible origin path depending on family line. In practice, many modern reference works lean toward a patronymic explanation from Conan.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Some older surname books explicitly note that Conant was sometimes tangled up with the surname Cannon/Canon in historical records.
From the historical record
“queror. CONANT. (Welsh and Gaelic.) Conan, a river. Counant, a cataract in North Wales, from cau, a chasm, a deep hol- low, shut up, and nant, a rivulet. COMSTOCK. (Dutch.) From Jcom, a dock or harbor, and stock, a stick or timber — the wharf or dock of timber. CONN. (Gaelic.) Strength, according to O'Donovan; it…”
— An Etymological Dictionary of Family and Christian Names