Ranaldo
Of French origin, a form of Renaud meaning "wise counselor".
Name Census estimates that about 36 living Americans carry the first name Ranaldo. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Ranaldo today is around 43 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ranaldo births was 1983 (8 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ranaldo. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Ranaldo. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
36
~ 1 in 9,520,954 Americans
Peak year
1983
8 babies that year
Average age
43
years old
1989 SSA rank
#8,937
Tracked since 1979
Popularity
Ranaldo: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ranaldo from the 1970s through to the 1980s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 33 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Ranaldo by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Ranaldo during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Ranaldo
The given name Ranaldo has its origins in the medieval Italian language and culture. It is derived from the Germanic name Reinhold, which itself is a combination of the elements "ragin" meaning "counsel" and "waldan" meaning "to rule". The name Reinhold was widely adopted in Italy during the Middle Ages and eventually evolved into the Italian form Ranaldo.
In the early 13th century, the name Ranaldo can be found in historical records from the Kingdom of Naples and the surrounding regions of southern Italy. It is believed to have been particularly prevalent among the nobility and ruling classes of the time, possibly reflecting the name's connotations of wisdom and authority.
One of the earliest notable figures bearing the name Ranaldo was Ranaldo di Aquino, a 13th-century Italian jurist and statesman from the city of Aquino. He served as a royal judge and advisor to the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II and played a significant role in the codification of legal principles in the Kingdom of Sicily.
In the realm of literature, the name Ranaldo appears in Dante Alighieri's epic poem "The Divine Comedy", written in the early 14th century. Ranaldo is mentioned as one of the souls encountered by Dante in the second circle of Hell, reserved for those guilty of lust.
Another notable figure bearing the name was Ranaldo III of Alife, a 14th-century Italian nobleman and military leader from the town of Alife in the Campania region. He was known for his prowess in battle and his role in the conflicts between the Angevin and Aragonese dynasties that vied for control over the Kingdom of Naples.
In the 15th century, Ranaldo Siciliano was a renowned Italian architect and engineer who worked on various construction projects in Naples and the surrounding areas. He is credited with the design and construction of several churches, palaces, and fortifications that showcased the architectural styles of the Renaissance.
Fast-forwarding to the 20th century, Ranaldo Gabrielli was an Italian film director and screenwriter who made significant contributions to the neorealist movement in Italian cinema. Born in 1916, Gabrielli directed several acclaimed films, including "Il Cammino della Speranza" (The Path of Hope) and "Il Posto" (The Job), which explored themes of social realism and the struggles of working-class Italians.
These are just a few examples of notable figures throughout history who bore the given name Ranaldo, which has its roots in the rich cultural heritage of medieval Italy and the Germanic linguistic traditions that influenced the development of the Italian language.
People
Ranaldo + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ranaldo as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with R
Other first names starting with R with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Ranaldo: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ranaldo?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 36 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ranaldo going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 9,520,954 US residents.
Is Ranaldo a common name?
We classify Ranaldo as "Very Rare". It ranks above 49.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 38 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ranaldo most popular?
The single biggest year for Ranaldo was 1983, when 8 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ranaldo is about 43 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Ranaldo a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Ranaldo in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.