Where the Reynolds name comes from

Reynolds is a patronymic surname meaning son of Reynold, formed by adding a genitive s to the father's given name. That given name, Reynold or Reginald, was a Germanic name built from the elements ragina and walda, together meaning a ruler of great strength. Bearers of the name arrived in England with the Norman Conquest of 1066, and the Domesday Book of 1086 records Willemus filius Raunaldi, with Rainaldus then a common Christian name. A less common account gives the name a Saxon origin instead, built from Rhein, meaning pure, and hold, meaning love.

Scribes wrote the name down as it sounded, so one person could be born under one spelling, married under another such as Reynell, Renals or Rennels, and buried under a third. The family rose in Somerset, where Sir Richard Reynell held Pitney and in 1191 was given custody of the castles at Exeter and Launceston by King Richard I. A century on, Walter Reynolds, the son of a Windsor baker, became Archbishop of Canterbury in 1313.