Mexican Name Finder

Indigenous surname · Maya

Canché

"wooden frame"

Say it

kahn-CHEH

Where it comes from

Yucatec kaanche' (raised wooden platform or altar), from kaan (?) + che' (tree, wood)

Meaning of the surname Canché

Canché is a Maya surname of the indigenous type meaning "wooden frame". It is a regional surname. About 41,000 people in Yucatán. Some read it as a serpent-wood plant; the first element is uncertain.

About this meaning. The etymology is uncertain or the popular reading is folk etymology. The page gives the best-supported explanation.

Maya surnames from Yucatán and Campeche (Pech, Canul, Chan, Ek, May, Uc, Poot, Tun) and Nahuatl surnames from central Mexico. Yucatán is the one region of Mexico where indigenous surnames dominate the top of the list.

In Mexico a person carries two surnames, the father's and then the mother's, so Canché appears as either half of a pair: Canché García, López Canché. Read how the two-surname system works.

Other indigenous surnames