RAYNER, RAINER or REINER?

Boy Names
1

Premising that I am from Europe, I love this name and its meaning, which is of German origin, meaning “wise army”.

Yet I’m undecided on which form to use. I would love hear your opinions:

  • Rayner (Eng. Form); Mostly a surname, very rarely used as a first name, which could be an issue (?), yet it would assure the bearer of the name the nickname “ Ray ”, which I adore.

  • Rainer (Ger. Form); the most popular form of this name, still used in Germany. I’ve seen many people mistaking the spelling and reading it as “ Rainier ”, which I’m not a fan of and I’d like to avoid. There also seem to be some pronunciation issues about this form. It might still be associated to the nickname “ Ray ”.

  • Reiner (Alt. Ger. Form); another less popular form of Rainer, used in Germany. It seems to be used as a surname as well. Do you think that Reiner is safe from the “ Rainier ” misspelling? And could the nickname “ Ray ” still be associated to it?

Which form do you think is best? Thanks to anyone who will comment with their opinion!

2

[name_f]Do[/name_f] you pronounce all of these the same? [name_u]Or[/name_u] differently? [name_m]Just[/name_m] wondering because I thought [name_m]Reiner[/name_m] might be pronounced RY-ner if it’s [name_m]German[/name_m].

Personally, I’ve never met anyone with any of these names (I live in the UK for reference), but I think they’re all acceptable. [name_m]Rainer[/name_m] might be misread as “Rainier” by people who are more familiar with that name but it would be fairly simple to correct. That said, I would probably pick [name_m]Rayner[/name_m] if you want the RAY-ner pronunciation since it seems the easiest for me.

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3

I like the spelling [name_m]Rayner[/name_m] for its ease of pronunciation. I do confuse [name_m]Rainer[/name_m] and [name_m]Reiner[/name_m] with [name_m]Ranier[/name_m] a little. However, [name_m]Rainer[/name_m] is also easy to pronounce. With [name_m]Reiner[/name_m] you may, depending on where you live, find that people are unsure whether to say [name_f]Ree[/name_f], [name_u]Rye[/name_u] or [name_u]Ray[/name_u] for the first syllable.
All in all, I’d go for [name_m]Rayner[/name_m] if I was choosing this name.

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4

I second @choupette, to get to that pronunciation and the [name_u]Ray[/name_u] nickname you love, I’d go with [name_m]Rayner[/name_m]. [name_u]Happy[/name_u] naming, I had never heard of this one!

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5

I instinctively pronounce all of these names the same!

I think I would go with [name_m]Rayner[/name_m]

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6

I like the look of [name_m]Rayner[/name_m]. It has a classic but rugged sort of feel

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7

I pronounce both [name_m]Rainer[/name_m] and [name_m]Reiner[/name_m] the german way (RY-ner) while [name_m]Rayner[/name_m] the english way (RAY-ner).

I am leaning towards [name_m]Rayner[/name_m] and [name_m]Reiner[/name_m] right now, but I agree about the fact that [name_m]Rayner[/name_m] has indeed the easiest pronunciation.

8

Thanks for your valuable opinion, I’ll take that into account!

Someone told me that [name_m]Reiner[/name_m] could be be abbreviated to “Rei”, which is something I did not think before and might actually be pretty cool. Is it a nickname that could be easily associated to it, in your opinion?

9

Your logic makes sense, thanks. And I’m glad you got to know some new names!

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10

If you are using the German pronunciation of Reiner and would pronounce ‘Rei’ the same as rye then of course! If you are saying ‘Ree’ then it may be a little confusing. The whole topic of pronunciation is so confusing via written language and between different cultures!

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