Names
The usual Malayalam name for the group is Tekkumbhagar. This is generally translated into English as "Southist", or sometimes "Southerner" or "Suddhist". The term Knanaya derives from the name of Thomas of Cana. However, the ultimate derivation of Thomas' epithet Cana is not clear. It may refer to the town of Cana, mentioned in the Bible, or to the land of Canaan. Alternately, it may be a corruption of a Syriac term for merchant (KnÄyil in Malayam). However, scholar Richard M. Swiderski states that none of these etymologies are convincing.
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