The name of the town most likely stems from the Latin word "Canis," which means "dog." This is evidenced by a somewhat conspicuous dog theme, with the names of some of the shopkeepers including Sbott (difficult to say without saying "Spot"), Barker, Roavar, and Rufus. Canifis appears to be based on a small Slavic village, with villagers having names like Boris, Yuri, and Svetlana. Canifis features as one of the maps available in the minigame Heist.