Renie
Feminine · “A pet form of Irene”
Renie is overwhelmingly a girls’ name — 614 girls against 6 boys since 1880.
Renie is a pet form that can come from Irene, 'peace', or from Renée, 'reborn'. Irene gave America one of its best-loved folk songs, and the word inside Renée gave a whole age of history its name.
How old is the name Renie?
Renie first appears in US birth records in 1894 — 131 years ago. The typical Renie alive today was born around 1953, making them about 72 years old. About 400 people named Renie are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Renie most popular?
Renie peaked in 1894, reaching #1485 nationally. See the whole 1894 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
The story of Renie
'Goodnight, Irene' was in Lead Belly's repertoire for decades; he died in 1949, and the next year the Weavers' recording reached number one and stayed there for weeks. Renée comes from Latin renatus, 'reborn', and its French cousin renaissance, 'rebirth', was made the name of a whole period of European history by the historian Jules Michelet in the nineteenth century. Renie was given as a name of its own from the end of the nineteenth century; the spelling is recorded for a handful of boys, but it is a girl's name in every tradition behind it.
Meaningscholars disagree
A pet form of Irene, 'peace', or Renée, 'reborn'
Irene comes from Greek eirene, 'peace'; Renée from Latin renatus, 'born again'. Renie can shorten either, and the record holds it alone.
Pronouncing Renie
REE-nee
Two syllables with the stress on the first; some families say RAY-nee.
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1894
- Most girls named
- 195221 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1485reached in 1894
- Change vs 1980
- −37.5%5 in 1988, from 8
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Renie in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Eirene in Greek — related form
- Renée in French — related form
- Irene in English — related form
Renies among us
people named Renie are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Renie sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- Short and friendly.
- Can be tied to either of two old names.
- Rare, so a Renie is unlikely to share her name.
- People will assume it is short for something and ask which.
- Two pronunciations are common.
- It reads as an older name.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
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Renie
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Renies are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 400 people named Renie are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Renie in 2025?
- Renie is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Renie with classmates?
- Renie will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More R names
The most-given names starting with R, all years combined.
Ruth#173 · Rebecca#349 · Rachel#250 · Rose#114 · Ruby#64 · Robin#704 · Rita#1285 · Rhonda#6116
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Renie? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Renie and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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