What is the origin and meaning of my last name?

Question

my last name is Rankin and i am curious about the origin and the meaning of my last name.

Answer 1

Please do not be confused by the earlier poster, and info about Samuel Rankin.  

Unless you do your own family, nothing proves that every Rankin in the US is going to be descended from him, just because he is the earliest one they have found.  Your ancestor may have been someone else entirely, who came to the US, a hundred years after his.

Until you know for certain, WHO your ancestor is.. you cannot assume that he comes from the same place as someone else.

Answer 2

Rankin Surname Origin

This name may be derived from the Danish Rank, right, upright, erect. If the name is Gaelic, it would come from Roinn, a promontory, share, or division, and Ceann, head; the head of the promontory, a name of place. Ranken, in the Dutch, signifies pranks, tricks.

Answer 3

I always thought Rankin was a Scottish name, probably with some Viking influence.

Answer 4

Gender:   Male

Origin: English

Meaning: Little Shield

Answer 5

English Patronymic name from the early given name Raedwulf, which means 'shield wolf.'   It was popular in England before the Norman Conquest. The name eventually became Radulf. Randolph and Randall are among the derivatives.

Rankin is the 1,006th most common name in the United States.

Our earliest known Rankin ancestor is Samuel Rankin. He was born in Ohio in the late 1700s and eventually settled in St. Helena Parish, Louisiana abt. 1818. His ancestors probably came from Ireland or Scotland.

Answer 6

good luck. I just went to two name websites and Rankin wasn't in neither of there data banks

Answer 7

Here is one possible origin of your name.

Surname: Rankin

This long-established surname is of early medieval English and Scottish origin, and was developed from the medieval male given name "Rankin", a diminutive form of the given name "Rand(e)", with the hypocoristic suffix "-kin". Rand itself is a short form of any of the various (originally) Germanic compound personal names with the first element "rand" (shield) rim, such as Randolf, with the second element "wolf", wolf. The diminutive form of the name is first recorded in Scotland, where Rankin de Fowlartoun is mentioned in Charters of the Royal Borough of Ayr in 1429. Early examples of the surname include: Reginald Ranekyn (1296, Sussex); Ralph Rankin (1301, Yorkshire); John Randekyn (1381, Suffolk); and in Scotland, John Rankyne, burgess of Glasgow in 1456. The surname has a long history in Scotland; it was found early in Ayrshire, where persons of the name were "small proprietors" before the end of the 16th Century. One John Rankin was vicar of Girwane in 1504, and another John Rankin was vicar of Girwane in 1504, and another John Rankin was a tenant under the bishop of Aberdeen in 1511. The christening of Jon(athan), son of Paull Rankin, was recorded at the Church of St. Nicholas, Aberdeen, on May 12th 1657.  The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Gilbert Reynkyn, which was dated 1273, in the "Hundred Rolls of Kent", during the reign of King Edward 1, known as "The Hammer of the Scots", 1272 - 1307.

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Rankin: Last name origin & meaning:

Scottish and northern Irish: from the medieval personal name Rankin, a diminutive of Ronald or Rand, with the diminutive suffix -kin.

Answer 8

This name may be derived from the Danish Rank, right, upright, erect. If the name is Gaelic, it would come from Roinn, a promontory, share, or division, and Ceann, head; the head of the promontory, a name of place. Ranken, in the Dutch, signifies pranks, tricks.

Answer 9

http://www.last-names.net/ , Thats all I can say, But who  cares any way??