Re: Meaning of surname
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In reply to:
Meaning of surname
Andrew Reaney 5/14/02
The name Reaney arises independently in England and Ireland with a similar meaning, raven hill and it is nordic,(something like the similarity of Smith and Schmidt in England and Germany), Percy H. Reaney was the author of the standard work on Engish surname origins and his surviving research manuscripts are here in Sheffield at the University, Gilbert was a noted composer (I seem to recall). Percy's research shows that the name originates at a farm in Penistone near Sheffield called Ranah Stones, there is a reference to it and a picture of the 18th century building in David Hey's 1988 book "Yorkshire From AD 1000". 30-40 years ago the pronunciation was something like Rain-nee though for years it has been Ree-nee, you should see how many variants you can get if you delve into the 19th century records, 12+ and counting. Hope this helps.