Rennie
Masculine
Rennie is given to both — 999 boys and 940 girls since 1880. See Rennie as a girl nameSee other names given to both
London Bridge was sold to an American and shipped to Arizona in pieces. The bridge in question was designed by a family of Scottish engineers called Rennie, it was sinking under motor traffic, and a chainsaw manufacturer bought it, numbered every stone and rebuilt it in the desert beside an artificial lake.
How old is the name Rennie?
Rennie first appears in US birth records in 1885 — 140 years ago. The typical Rennie alive today was born around 1957, making them about 68 years old. About 700 people named Rennie are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Rennie most popular?
Rennie peaked in 1885, reaching #936 nationally. See the whole 1885 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From a Scottish surname of uncertain origin to Rennie
The story of Rennie
The story everybody tells is that the buyer thought he was getting Tower Bridge, and he spent the rest of his life denying it. What he actually got was a granite bridge from the 1830s, dismantled stone by stone with each piece numbered, shipped through the Panama Canal and rebuilt over a channel that had to be dug afterwards so the bridge would have something to cross. It worked: a town of a few thousand people acquired the second most visited attraction in the state, and the bridge is still there, carrying traffic.
Meaningnot established
Not established
As an American name this is likelier to be a pet form — of Renata, Irene, Reginald or a surname — than a direct borrowing of the Scottish surname, which is itself of uncertain origin. It is recorded for daughters and sons alike from the earliest years of the register, which usually indicates a familiar form rather than a formal name.
How the name formed
- a Scottish surname of uncertain origin
- an engineering family builds bridges and harbors
- Rennie used as an American pet form before 1880
- London Bridge sold and rebuilt in Arizona in the 1960s
- the name given to daughters and sons alike
Related forms: Rennie · Renny
Pronouncing Rennie
REN-ee
Two syllables, stress at the front. There is no competing reading.
Nicknames for Rennie
Moderate
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
- 1885
- Most boys named
- 194832 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #936reached in 1885
- Change vs 2007
- −28.6%5 in 2021, from 7
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.
Rennie in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Rennie in Scots — same name
- Renny in English — spelling variant
Rennies among us
people named Rennie 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
Rennie 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
- It is short, warm and read correctly at sight by everybody.
- It works for a child of either sex, and the record carries it on both sides.
- Ren is available and is one of the more current short forms going.
- It reads as a pet form and people will look for a longer name.
- There is no settled origin and several candidate parents.
- It belongs to the oldest layer of the American record.
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Rennie
Masculine
Frequently asked
- How many Rennies are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 700 people named Rennie are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Rennie in 2025?
- Rennie is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 boy names.
- Will my child share the name Rennie with classmates?
- Rennie will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More R names
The most-given names starting with R, all years combined.
Robert#92 · Richard#234 · Ronald#637 · Ryan#99 · Raymond#394 · Roger#832 · Ralph#1046 · Roy#525
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Rennie? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Rennie and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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