Reinhold
A Germanic surname and given name built from ancient name elements meaning “counsel” and “rule” or “power.”
The #9,186 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 86,946 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Reinhold is from an old Germanic personal name, usually analyzed as a form of Raginald or Reginald. The first element is the Germanic ragin, meaning “counsel” or “advice,” and the second element is usually taken as wald, “rule,” “power,” or “ruler.” In later German usage, the name was reshaped into Reinhold, a form that could look as if it contained the modern word “hold,” but that resemblance is only accidental.
History
The name is well attested in medieval and early modern Germanic naming traditions, and it spread into surname use from a personal name. Historical sources also show many related spellings across Europe, including Reginald, Reynolds, Reinold, Rainold, and Renauld. In German-speaking areas, Reinhold remained especially familiar as both a given name and a surname.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Some older German scholars noted that Reinhold could be reinterpreted by speakers as if it contained the word hold, even though that was not its original meaning.
From the historical record
“Dr. Kleinpaul (' Die Deutschen Per- sonennamen,' 1909), who imagines that the German Reinhold is from Reinwald (I), goes (p. 39) with somewhat superfluous detail into the signification of the latter name— Reinwald beruht wieder auf Reginviald,”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)