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Re: my name isn't here
in reply to a message by Ryne
Hi Ryne,Your name is not German (I couldn't find it in any German name book, and I've never met any person with that name in Germany). Maybe it's of German origin as it sounds like the beginning of German name like Reinhard, Rainer, Rainbert etc. - the rein/rain part of the names meaning "counsel, resolution".Regards, Satu
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Ah, but maybe it IS German...if by any chance it's a first-name version of the surname Rhyne (pronounced the same way). This is a well-known surname in parts of western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee.Rhyne goes back to the German surname Reinau. The Reinau family came to the US (Pennsylvania) before 1750 and moved south a half-century later. Somewhere during that time the name was modified to Rhein, Rein, and Rhyne (the name that lasted). So why not one step further to Ryne, as a FIRST name? Using family surnames for first names was/is quite usual in the southern US.Just a theory, mind you.-Da.
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meaning of the surname ReinauHi again!The German surname Reinau comes from a place name. The "-au" part of the name means "mead, meadow". The "rein" part can have some different meanings:
1) Short form of first names (originate in Old High German "ragin" - see my first answer)
2) From the Middle High German word "rein" meaning
a) "pure, clean"
b) "(boundary) balk"
c) "small hill, balk"
3) the river Rhein (Rhine)Satu
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