Ragnall (name)

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For the place, see Ragnall.
Ragnall
Raghnall name.svg
Raghnall in a Gaelic type, note the lenited g in the name (gh) once appeared in Irish orthography with a dot above it, as pictured.
GenderMasculine
Language(s)Old Irish, Middle Irish/Middle Gaelic
Origin
Language(s)Old Norse
Word/nameRøgnvaldr, Rǫgnvaldr, Rögnvaldr
Derivationregin + valr
Meaning"(German) Gods", "powerful"
Other names
Cognate(s)see list
Derivative(s)Raghnall, Raonall, Raonull

Ragnall, Raghnall, Raonall, and Raonull are masculine personal names or given names in several Gaelic languages.

Ragnall occurs in Old Irish,[1] and Middle Irish/Middle Gaelic.[2][3] It is a Gaelicised form of the Old Norse Røgnvaldr, Rǫgnvaldr, Rögnvaldr.[1][4] This Old Norse name is composed of two elements: regin, meaning "(German)" Gods; and valr, meaning "powerful".[5] It has also been suggested that Ragnall could also represent the Old Norse Ragnarr as well.[6] Ragnall can be Anglicised as Ranald and Ronald, and Latinised as Reginald, Reginaldus.[3]

The modern spelling is Raghnall in Scottish Gaelic and either Raghnall or Raonull in Irish. Anglicised forms of Raghnall include: Ranald, Rannal, and Ronald.[7]

The final -ll sound of the Gaelic names are de-vocalized, and to non-Gaelic-speakers this suggests -d sound. In this way the name is similar to the various forms of the Gaelic Domhnall, which can be Anglicised as Donald.[8]

List of cognates[]

List of people with the given name[]

  • Ragnall ua Ímair (died 921), king of the Fair and Dark Foreigners and king of Northumbria, the first known Ragnall
  • Ragnall mac Gofraid (died 1004/1005), King of the Isles
  • Ragnall mac Torcaill (died 1146), ruler of Dublin
  • Ragnall Olafsson (fl. 1164), mediaeval ruler of the Isle of Man
  • Ragnall Mac Gilla Muire (fl. 1170), leader of Waterford
  • Raghnall mac Somhairle (died 1207), king of the Isles and Argyll
  • Raghnall mac Gofraidh (died 1229), king of Mann and the Isles
  • Raghnall mac Amhlaibh (fl. 1249), king of Mann
  • Ranald MacDonald (died 1386) founder of Clanranald
  • Ranald George Macdonald (1788-1873), chief of Clan Macdonald of Clanranald and Member of Parliament
  • Raonall Smith (born 1978), American, professional American football player

As a patronymic[]

  • Echmarcach mac Ragnaill (fl. 11th century), king of Dublin, Man and the Isles, and the Rhinns
  • Ascall mac Ragnaill (died 1171), the last king of Dublin
  • Gofraid mac Ragnaill (died 1231), king of the Isles
  • Domhnall mac Raghnaill (fl. early-mid 13th century), Hebridean flaith (prince) and progenitor of Clan Donald

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ a b Reaney, Percy Hilde; Wilson, Richard Middlewood (2006), A Dictionary of English Surnames (3rd ed.), London: Routledge, p. 2668, ISBN 0-203-99355-1
  2. ^ Woolf, Alex (2009), "Scotland", in Stafford, Pauline (ed.), A Companion to the Early Middle Ages: Britain and Ireland, c.500-c.1100, Blackwell Companions to History, Blackwell Publishing, p. 254, ISBN 978-1-4051-0628-3
  3. ^ a b Sellar, W. D. H. (2000), "Hebridean Sea Kings: The Successors of Somerled, 1164-1316", in Cowan, Edward J.; McDonald, R. Andrew (eds.), Alba: Celtic Scotland in the Middle Ages, East Linton: , p. 187, ISBN 1-86232-151-5
  4. ^ Downham, Clare (2007), Viking Kings of Britain and Ireland: The Dynasty of Ívarr to A.D. 1014, Edinburgh: Dunedin Academic Press, p. 3, ISBN 978-1-903765-89-0
  5. ^ a b c d Hanks, Patrick; Hardcastle, Kate; Hodges, Flavia (2006), A Dictionary of First Names, Oxford Paperback Reference (2nd ed.), Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 394, ISBN 978-0-19-861060-1
  6. ^ Byrne, Francis John (2008), "Ireland before the battle of Clontarf", in Ó Cróinín, D (ed.), Prehistoric and Early Ireland, A New History of Ireland, vol. 1, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 855, ISBN 978-0-19-821737-4
  7. ^ a b Hanks, Patrick; Hardcastle, Kate; Hodges, Flavia (2006), A Dictionary of First Names, Oxford Paperback Reference (2nd ed.), Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 355, 407, ISBN 978-0-19-861060-1
  8. ^ Black, George Fraser (1946), The Surnames of Scotland: Their Origin, Meaning, and History, New York: New York Public Library, p. 682
  9. ^ a b Hanks, Patrick; Hardcastle, Kate; Hodges, Flavia (2006), A Dictionary of First Names, Oxford Paperback Reference (2nd ed.), Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 234, 228–229, ISBN 978-0-19-861060-1
  10. ^ Reaney, Percy Hilde; Wilson, Richard Middlewood (2006), A Dictionary of English Surnames (3rd ed.), London: Routledge, p. 2626, ISBN 0-203-99355-1
  11. ^ Hanks, Patrick; Hardcastle, Kate; Hodges, Flavia (2006), A Dictionary of First Names, Oxford Paperback Reference (2nd ed.), Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 433, ISBN 978-0-19-861060-1
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