Raynor (Rayner) is a distinguished name of Teutonic origin.
The Anglo-Saxon Regenhere d. 617 A.D. He was son of Raedwalk, King
of East Anglia, an ancient division of England which comprises the modern
day Norfolk and Suffolk Counties.
Rainer (Rayner, Raynor) is derived from the old Germanic name,
"Raginhari," meaning "counsel or mighty Army" and was undoubtedly introduced
into England from France in the eleventh century. Indeed, the earliest
written records of the personal name in England appear in the Doomsday
Book of 1086 and testify to the French influence in the formation of many
English surnames.
In the Middle Ages, before the development of the hereditary surname
system, it became convenient to identify people with the same first name
by referring to their father's personal name. Thus patronymic surnames
form one of the largest of the surname groups in England and indeed in
all of Europe.
Early instances of the surname in England include Ricardus Filius
Rainer who is on the written record in Hampshire in the year 1148 (Liber
Wintoniensis) and William Rayner who lived in Lancashire in 1229 (Transcripts
of Charters relating to the Gilbertine houses). The prefix "Filius"
in the first example means "son of" and emphasizes the patronymic origins
of the surname.
Among the first instances of the surname in England were those of
Rayner Le Blake in County Norfolk during the year 1273, Reyner, son of
Reyner Fleming, a Yorkshire man in the 13th year of Edward II’s reign,
and Thomas Rayner, also of Yorkshire (1379).
Variants of this surname include Raynor, Rainer, Ranner, Reiner,
Reyner, and Renner and all are to be found in the East Anglican and Nottinghamshire
areas with the "or" ending peculiar to the latter. The name tended
to be concentrated in those counties on the East coast of England, from
Yorkshire south through Lincolnshire, Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex and East
Kent – and was also fairly common in the Isle of Wight which had close
racial links with Kent; both were settled by the same people during the
post-Roman period.
Early residents of the Counties of Norfolk, Suffolk, York, Nottingham,
Huntingdon, and London, as well as various parts of Wales, bearing this
name were, for the most part, of the landed and educated classes.
The Raynor family was well established in England by the 15th and
16th centuries. One of the principal branches of the family was at
East Drayton in Nottingham County. Many of the present-day Raynor
families in America originated in Suffolk County, England.
Coat
of Arms and Crest
Several Rayner – Raynor heraldic shields are described in standard
books on the subject. The Coat of Arms of the branch of the Raynor
family at East Drayton, in Nottingham County, England was "ermine on a
chief indented azure, two etoiles d'or". Another branch of the family
has "ermine on a chief azure, two etoiles d'or. Crest, on a mount
vert, a leopard passant d'or." Azure is blue, d'or is gold, vert
is green, "etoiles" are six-pointed stars. This Coat of Arms was
granted to the family in 1588. The Arms are the same as those of
the Nottingham branch.
Documentation for the Raynor Coat of Arms design can be found in
BURKE'S GENERAL ARMORY: Ermine on a chief indented azure two etoiles
d'or (an ermine field with a blue chief, i. e., the upper third blue, with
an indented line of partition bearing two gold stars). Above the
shield and helmet is the Crest: "On a mount vert a leopard passant d'or"
(a golden leopard walking on a green mount). Ermine is a fur which has
long been associated with royalty and nobility. The chief signifies
Dominion, the etoiles honour and achievement. A motto was not
recorded with the Raynor Coat of Arms.
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