ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 3155
http://www.s-gabriel.org/3155
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29 Jan 2007
From: Aryanhwy merch Catmael 

Greetings from the Academy of S. Gabriel!

You asked for our opinion of the surname <Reinard>, with possible
alternate spellings of <Reynard> or <Raynard>, in France between 1400
and 1600.  Because you indicated that you would be willing to accept
additional alternate spellings, we have expanded our research to
include other spellings which sound similar to <Reinard>.  Here is
what we found.

The surname <Reinard> was originally a patronymic byname (that is, one
based on the bearer's father's given name), and hence originally a
given name.  The given name <Reinard> comes from the Old French name
<Reinart>, which in turn is from the Old Germanic <Raginhard> or
<Rainhard>.  We have a number of examples of the given name in France
and England throughout our period.  In England, we find <filius
Rainardi> 'son of Rainard' 1086, <Rainart> 1086, and <Reynardi> 'of
Reynard' 1205.  (The forms ending in <-i> are inflected Latin forms).
 However, it appears that spellings with the diphthong fell out of use
in England sometime in the mid-13th century; our next English example
of the name, from 1325, is <Renard> [4].

<Renard> can also be found in France.  We did find an example of the
surname <Renardin> in 1421. [1]  <Renardin> is a pet form of <Renard>,
which we find used as a surname in Artois in 1601 [2].  Additionally,
we find the given name <Renart> in Paris in 1292 [3].  Based on this,
we can easily recommend <Renard> as a suitable French surname for your
period.

While forms with the diphthong appear to have fallen out of use in
England, this does not appear to be the case in France.  <Renard> is
the most common form of the name, and the choice most appropriate for
northern France, but the spellings <Rainard>, <Raynard>, <Reinard>,
and <Reynard> can all be found in the south of France [5].  Some
examples of these forms can be see in the Latinized names <Bernardus
Raynardi> 1322 and <Petrus Raynardi> and 1311, both recorded in
Toulouse [6].  Based on these, we believe that <Raynard> is a suitable
surname for a man living in the south of France during your period.

We hope this information will be helpful to you.  If you have any
other questions, please feel free to write the Academy again. 
Research and commentary on this letter was provided by Talan Gwynek
and Juliana de Luna.

For the Academy,
Aryanhwy merch Catmael & Calybrid Ine Tere, 29 January 2007


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References:

[1] Friedemann, Sara L., "French Names from Paris, 1421, 1423 & 1438"
(WWW: privately published, 2002-2003).
http://www.ellipsis.cx/~liana/names/french/paris1423.html

[2] Uckelman, Sara L., "Names from Artois, 1601" (WWW: privately
published, 2002, 2004).
http://www.ellipsis.cx/~liana/names/french/french1601.html

[3] Colm Dubh, "An Index to the Given Names in the 1292 Census of
Paris", Proceedings of the Known World Heraldic Symposium 1996 (SCA:
Montgomery, Alabama; WWW: SCA, Inc., 1997).
http://www.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/names/paris.html

[4] Reaney, P. H., & R. M. Wilson, _A Dictionary of English Surnames_
(London: Routledge, 1991; Oxford University Press, 1995), s.n. Reynard

[5] Dauzat, Albert, _Dictionnaire Etymologique des Noms de Famille et
Prenoms de France_ (Paris: Libraire Larousse, 1987), s.n. Renard

[6] Arval Benicoeur, "Languedoc Names circa 1300" (WWW: privately
published, 1998).
http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/arval/toulouse/