This is an English and Scottish surname deriving from Rennie or Rannie, pet forms of the personal name "Reynold", a compound of the Germanic elements "ragin" meaning "counsel", and "wald", rule, which was first introduced into England by Scandinavian settlers, and later reinforced at the time of the Norman Conquest (1066) by the French equivalent "Reinald". One Reinaldus Cameraius is recorded in the 1121 Pipe Rolls of Suffolk. Rannie and Rennie had become surnames by the end of the 13th Century. One Thomas Renie is recorded in the 1279 Hundred Rolls of Bedfordshire. In 1362, Symon Renny was bailie of Inverkeithing (Scotland). Sir John Rennie (1761 - 1821), the famous engineer, was born in East Lothian; he designed Waterloo Bridge (1810 - 1817), and London Bridge (1815). His son, Sir John Rennie (1794 - 1874), carried on his father's business and completed London Bridge which was opened in 1831. One George Rennie (1802 - 1860) was a notable sculptor and politician, who exhibited statues and busts at the Royal Academy (1828 - 1837). He became Liberal M.P. for Ipswich in 1841, and was appointed governor of the Falkland Islands in 1847, the condition of which he greatly improved. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Henry Raney, which was dated 1275, in the "Hundred Rolls of Derbyshire", during the reign of King Edward 1, known as "The Hammer of the Scots", 1272 - 1307. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

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