The ultimate derivation of Thomas' English epithet "Cana" is not clear: it may refer to the town of Cana, which is mentioned in the Bible, or it may instead refer to the land of Canaan.Alternately, it may be a corruption of a Syriac term for merchant ("Knāyil" in Malayalam). However, scholar Richard M. Swiderski states that none of these etymologies are entirely sound. Knanaya priest and pontifical scholar Dr. Jacob Kollaparambil argues that the "Cana" form is a corruption introduced by European scholars in the 18th century based on the Malayalam form "Knāy" and its variants (Knāi, Kinān, Knāyi) found in the folk tradition of the Knanaya and the common parlance and literature of the people of Malabar. This may be a reference to the Christian community of Kynai, in Bét Aramayé in Persia, a historical center of Syriac Christianity.