Given name · also Gaelic
Ranald
“the king's advisor”
Ranald is a variant of Ronald. One interpretation is “the king's advisor.”
Meaning & origin
What it means
Ranald is a variant of Ronald. One interpretation is “the king's advisor.”
Explained through its name family
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is Old Norse.
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1914. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin. Ranald is a variant of Ronald. The history of Ronald gives this family its wider story. Ronald was in use during the Middle Ages.
Combines direct and name-family evidence
Ranald through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 111
- 111 boys · 0 girls
- Most popular year
- 1959
- 10 babies
- 2025
- 0
- Outside the ranked list
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- —
- Too few births to compare
By the numbers
The most recent published U.S. birth count for boys is 5 in 1988. Later missing counts do not mean the name went unused. Its largest published annual count for boys was 10 in 1959. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 158 as a first name in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Ranald’s family of names
Ranald has a related form in Ronald. Ranald is an English adaptation of Raghnall.
Inner ring: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Nicknames & forms 1
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Across languages 2
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
See also 2
Names our sources mention alongside this one. They are related in story or meaning, not forms of this name.
People named Ranald
- Ranald S. MackenzieUnion army general (1840-1889)
- Ranald MacDonaldAmerican English teacher (1824-1894)
- Ranald MacDougallAmerican screenwriter (1915-1973)
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love Ranald, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
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Lewie is a masculine given name.
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“ever the ruler”
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Rodell
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Raynald
“the king's advisor”
>99% boys
Brénainn
“king”
>99% boys