Rinehart
A German surname from the personal name Reinhard, meaning “brave counsel” or “strong advice.”
The #2,688 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 23,054 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Rinehart is generally understood as an Americanized spelling of German Reinhard. The name comes from the old Germanic elements rein- / ragin- meaning “counsel” and -hard meaning “hardy,” “brave,” or “strong.” In plain English, the original sense is something like “strong counsel” or “brave in giving advice.”
History
The surname likely entered English-speaking countries through German immigration and then became fixed in several spellings, including Rinehart, Reinhart, and Reinhardt. The excerpt from Kuhns explicitly equates Rinehart with Reinhard, which supports this reading. In the United States, the name is well established but not especially common, and the spelling with -ine- is one of several Anglicized forms.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The ending -hard in Germanic names has nothing to do with English “hard” in the modern sense alone; in old names it often carried the idea of strength or bravery.
From the historical record
“Life-sea ; sea of life. Rinehart. Rin, race, course : Jieort, the heart. Race- heart ; rapid heart-action. Ringe. Ringe, a ring. Ring, an abbreviated form of the name.”
— Family Names from the Irish, Anglo-Saxon, Anglo-Norman and Scotch