Caen City Map Poster

About Caen

The earliest forms of the name were "Caput Castelli", "Castel Neuf" and "Castelneau". The modern name 'Caen' is derived from the Latin ' ', which is in turn derived from the Greek Καινών, meaning new people or settlement. It was known in Old Welsh as '. In Modern Welsh it is called . Inhabitants of Caen are called '. The ancient Norman dialect was spoken on both sides of the Channel, and settlements in Normandy are often referred to using this term (e.g., "" means a person who comes from Caen). Because Calvados belonged to a high-ranking noble family with many branches, some inhabitants came to identify themselves with their town of origin rather than with Normandy as a whole; thus natives would say they were "" instead of being "" ("from Calvados"). As time went by, these terms became distinguished: for example,"" ("a man born at Caen") versus "" ("a man living at Cherbourg").