Surname Reinach - Meaning and Origin

Reinach: What does the surname Reinach mean?

The last name Reinach is of German origin. It denotes a person from a place called Reinach, which is located in Northern Germany.

The original meaning of the name is derived from Old German and is believed to mean 'red meadow', 'red mound', or 'red village'. These references may describe the area around Reinach in Germany, as it is known for its red soil.

Reinach is not only a surname but is also used as a given name. It is also a popular toponym, which is a name derived from the name of a place or geographic location.

The people with the last name Reinach have dispersed through much of Europe, particularly the Alpine regions and parts of England. Those of German heritage originally found in Reinach, however, still exhibit the characteristics of their ancestors, such as hardworking and quite religious.

In the modern age, the Reinach surname still stands as a reminder of a proud family given its name from the town of Reinach. It has come to signify a sense of flourishing success and a personal pride that is derived from a long-standing history.

Reinach: Where does the name Reinach come from?

The last name Reinach is a German surname that is most commonly found in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. It is the 47th most common surname in Germany, with approximately 45,000 people bearing the name. The Reinachs claim to have had their roots in northern Germany, but the name appears in a variety of different regions.

The surname is known to have been present in Switzerland since 1437, when the progenitor of this family, Heinrich Reinach, settled in Basel. In 1818, Worms, an old-established village in Germany's Rhineland-Palatinate, was home to the large and prosperous Reinach family.

The name is also associated with Jewish families. Many Jewish surnames were changed to Reinach in the 17th and 18th centuries following a decree that required Jews to take surnames.

In present day, the last name can be found in Germany, Switzerland, Austria, France, the United States, Canada, Brazil, and Israel. In America, the Reinachs, Ettingers, and Jenners are all the same family, all descended from one man named Levi Reinach who settled in Philadelphia in the late 1800s.

Reinachs exist in places farther away, such as Australia, New Zealand, Zimbabwe, and the Netherlands, indicating the long reach of this common German surname.

Variations of the surname Reinach

Reinach is a German, Jewish, and Swiss surname of multiple variants. The most common variants are Reineck, Reinecke, Rainach, Rheinach, Reineccius, Reine, Rayne, Raynach, Rhinach, Rhineck, Rhinecke, Reinech, Reineke, Reinek, and Reinich.

This surname is derived from the Germanic words Regin (“counsel”) and Acha (“ferry”), which come together to form a translated meaning of “one who gives good advice at the ferry”. The earliest record of the surname dates back to the 11th century, when one Godeschalcus de Raynach living in Erfurt, Germany is mentioned in the land registers of Emperor Heinrich IV. In the middle ages, a number of different noble families in what is now German-speaking Switzerland assumed the surnames Reinach, Rheinacher, etc.

In the late Middle Ages, the spelling of the suramme changed to Reinecke, Reinicke, and Reinich, which eventually became a German-Jewish surname. Jewish bearers of the surname Reinach first settled in small villages along the Danube river. Some spread into the United States during the late 1800s and early 1900s, and the name is still found today in the US, Germany, Israel, and other countries around the world.

The Reinach family name is very common and has been adapted into other languages as well, such as Reynech, Rheinach, Reinech, and Reina. Despite the numerous spelling variations and variants, all spellings of the Reinach surname are believed to derive from the same original source.

Famous people with the name Reinach

• Adolphe Reinach: German-born French jurist.
• Joseph Reinach: French lawyer and politician.
• Marie Thérèse Reinach: German-born French pianist.
• Saul Reinach: French archaeologist.
• Salomon Reinach: French archaeologist and philosopher.
• Paul Réné Reinach: French historian.
• Milton Reinach: Austrian-born British doctor and physician.
• Gustav Reinach: German philosopher and philologist.
• Hugo Reinach: Lithuanian-born Brazilian philosopher and politician.
• Ernst Reinach: Austrian-born American lawyer.
• Robert Reinach: German chess master and composer.
• Aloïs Riehl: German entomologist and writer.
• Guilherme Reinach: Brazilian swimmer and Olympic medalist.
• Hugo Reinach de Balzac: Brazilian diplomat and politician.
• Charles Reinach: French painter.
• Émile-Maurice Reinach: French archaeologist.
• Alfred Reinach: French theologian and missionary.
• Alice Reinach: Brazilian sculptor.
• Amalie Reinach: German physician and psychoanalyst.
• Carl Reinach: Austrian-born German philosopher.

Other surnames

ReinackReinaldReinalterReinardReinardsReinardtReinardyReinartReinartzReinarz