Rennie
An anglicized variant of the Scottish name Renny, a diminutive of Reynold.
Name Census estimates that about 1,157 living Americans carry the first name Rennie. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 51.9% of registrations being male. The average person named Rennie today is around 57 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Rennie births was 1956 (49 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Rennie. 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
- • Rennie sits in rare territory as a truly gender-neutral name, given to boys and girls in near-equal numbers.
People living today
1.2K
~ 1 in 296,244 Americans
Peak year
1956
49 babies that year
Average age
57
years old
2021 SSA rank
#13,650
Tracked since 1880
Gender
Gender distribution for Rennie
Rennie is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 1,926 total registrations, 999 (51.9%) were male and 927 (48.1%) were female.
Rennie as a male name
- Ranked #13,650 in 2021
- 5 male births in 2021
- Peak: 1948 (32 births)
Rennie as a female name
- Ranked #14,862 in 2024
- 6 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1922 (20 births)
Popularity
Rennie: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Rennie from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 337 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1950s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Rennie 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 Rennie during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Rennies live
Origin
Meaning and history of Rennie
The name Rennie is a diminutive form of the French name Rene, which means "reborn" or "born again." It has its roots in the Old French word "reneir," meaning "to deny" or "to renounce." The name is believed to have originated in the 12th century, during the time of the Crusades.
The name Rene was initially popularized by the French saint and bishop, Rene of Angers, who lived in the 5th century. He is known for his missionary work in Gaul (modern-day France) and for establishing several monasteries. The name gained further prominence in the Middle Ages, particularly in France and parts of Europe.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Rennie can be found in the book "The Surnames of Scotland" by George F. Black, published in 1946. The book mentions Rennie as a Scottish surname derived from the French name Rene.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Rennie. One of the earliest was Rennie of Phantassie (1579-1648), a Scottish landowner and politician who served as a member of the Scottish Parliament.
Another prominent figure was John Rennie (1761-1821), a Scottish civil engineer who designed several famous bridges, including the Waterloo Bridge in London and the Southwark Bridge across the River Thames.
In the realm of literature, Rennie Airth (born 1935) is a British author best known for his John Madden mystery novels, including "River of Darkness" and "The Blood-Dimmed Tide."
In sports, Rennie Stennett (born 1951) is a former professional baseball player from Panama who played for the Pittsburgh Pirates and San Francisco Giants in the 1970s and 1980s.
Additionally, Rennie Harris (born 1964) is an American hip-hop dancer, choreographer, and founder of the renowned dance company, Rennie Harris Puremovement.
While these are just a few examples, the name Rennie has been used across different cultures and time periods, carrying with it a rich history and diverse set of associations.
People
Rennie + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Rennie 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
Rennie: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Rennie?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,157 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Rennie 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 296,244 US residents.
Is Rennie a common name?
We classify Rennie as "Rare". It ranks above 91% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,926 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Rennie most popular?
The single biggest year for Rennie was 1956, when 49 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Rennie is about 57 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Rennie a male name?
Yes, 51.9% of people registered as Rennie 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.