Renald
Derived from the Germanic elements "ragin" meaning "counsel" and "waldan" meaning "to rule".
Name Census estimates that about 265 living Americans carry the first name Renald. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Renald today is around 61 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Renald births was 1924 (17 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Renald. 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.
People living today
265
~ 1 in 1,293,413 Americans
Peak year
1924
17 babies that year
Average age
61
years old
2007 SSA rank
#12,047
Tracked since 1915
Popularity
Renald: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Renald from the 1910s through to the 2000s, spanning 10 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 96 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Renald 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 Renald during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Renalds live
Origin
Meaning and history of Renald
The given name Renald originated from the Germanic languages, specifically from the Old Frankish and Old Dutch roots "Ragin" meaning "counsel" and "wald" meaning "rule". It was a popular name during the Middle Ages in the Frankish and Dutch regions of Europe.
The name Renald can be traced back to the 8th century when it appeared in various medieval records and chronicles. One of the earliest known references is in the Vita Sancti Suidberti, a hagiography of the 7th-century saint Suidbert, where a person named Renald is mentioned as a follower of the saint.
In the 9th century, a Frankish nobleman named Renald served as a courtier under the Carolingian King Charles the Bald. This Renald is recorded in the Annales Bertiniani, a contemporary chronicle of the Carolingian dynasty.
During the 11th and 12th centuries, the name Renald gained popularity among the nobility and aristocracy in the Low Countries and parts of modern-day Germany and France. One notable bearer of the name was Renald of Seignelay (c. 1090-1171), a French churchman and influential advisor to King Louis VII of France.
In the 13th century, a Renald of Bruges (c. 1200-1270) was a prominent merchant and alderman in the city of Bruges, which was a major commercial center in the medieval Low Countries.
Another historical figure was Renald of Villeneuve (c. 1235-1311), a French alchemist and physician who served as the personal physician to Pope Clement V in Avignon.
Over the centuries, the name Renald has undergone various spelling variations such as Reynald, Reinald, and Reinold, reflecting the linguistic and cultural influences of different regions.
People
Renald + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Renald 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
Renald: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Renald?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 265 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Renald 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 1,293,413 US residents.
Is Renald a common name?
We classify Renald as "Very Rare". It ranks above 77.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 518 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Renald most popular?
The single biggest year for Renald was 1924, when 17 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Renald is about 61 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Renald a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Renald 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.