True origin of surname 'Reynolds'?

Question:Got list of where most of the Reynolds' came from when they immigrated to U.S. from ancestry.com. Here are the top ones in descending order:

Ireland, England, Great Britain, Scotland, Wales & Germany.

But couldn't locate the origin of the surname. Sorry.

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: Got list of where most of the Reynolds' came from when they immigrated to U.S. from ancestry.com. Here are the top ones in descending order:

Ireland, England, Great Britain, Scotland, Wales & Germany.

But couldn't locate the origin of the surname. Sorry.

Not really a lot from www.ancestry.com
Reynolds
English: patronymic from Reynold.
There's much more text from this site,
http://www.houseofnames.com/fc.asp?sId=&...

Hope this helps.

I do not know, as I have not bothered to research this information, however, your question caught my attention because of the name Reynolds. My family is FULL of Reynolds. I descend from a long line of Reynolds. It is nice to see others on this site with the same family names I have for once.

People aren't lying to you when they say "Many places", dear; they mean it really did arise in many places. There isn't any one true origin any more than there is one true religion. (Yes, there is one true religion, the Quakers, but try to convince a Hindu, Baptist, Presbyterian, Jew or Muslim of that.)

The Mormon site,

http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Search/f...

limits itself for any given search, but they show you a nice selection before they stop. There were people named Reynolds born, married, buried or counted on the census in all of these places:

? Census/1880 US Census - over 25
? Census/1881 British Census - over 25
? Census/1881 Canadian Census - over 25
? IGI/Africa - over 20
? IGI/Asia - over 21
? IGI/British Isles - over 25
? IGI/Caribbean Islands - over 25
? IGI/Central America - 3
? IGI/Continental Europe - over 25
? IGI/Denmark - 14
? IGI/Germany - over 25
? IGI/Iceland - 3
? IGI/Mexico - 9
? IGI/North America - over 25
? IGI/Norway - 2
? IGI/Ocean Islands - over 25
? IGI/South America - over 25
? IGI/Southwest Europe - over 25
? IGI/Southwest Pacific - over 20
? IGI/Sweden - 9
? IGI/World Misc. - over 18
? Pedigree Resource File - over 25
? U.S. Social Security Death Index - over 25

Surnames only came about in the middle ages. When they did, lots of different people became Tom, Dick or Harry Reynold's son, just like others became T, D or H Johnson or Peterson or Simons (Simon's son).

Ancestry.Com shows the following as place of origin for Reynolds immigrants to the U.S.

Ireland 1801

England 1527

Great Britain 432

Scotland 110

Wales 22

Germany 16

meaning it is an English patronymic for Reynold.

The origin of a surname is really not very important to genealogy. The same surname can come from more than one nationality and not everyone with the same surname is related or share ancestors. When people started taking surnames apparently some of the sons of men with the given name Reynold became Reynolds.

Rootsweb(free site) has more than 400,000 entries for Reynolds. Just pull up the site and put Reynolds in the World Connect block and you will see the trees. If you see something that interest you, probe on a name and it will give you the name and email address of the submitter.

Now family trees on websites are submitted by folks like you and me. Don't take everything you see as a fact on any website, free or paid. A lot of people are copying each other without verifying and there are errors in family trees on websites.

You have to understand the Anglo Normans invaded Ireland and they took up Irish customs and intermarried with the "natives."
Also a lot of Irish emmigrated to England, particularly Liverpool. So that is why you really have to trace your family to know your heritage starting with yourself and working back. Anytime you wish to do this, there are lots of good people on this board that can give you some great tips and advice. Just ask.

Also since you are searching an origin of a name, there are peddlers of surname products. They are on the internet, at airports, at shopping malls and they advertise in magazines. They sell their products base on a surname which is not valid.

One, House of Names, has in small print at the bottom of the page

"We encourage you to study the Reynolds genealogy to find out if you descended from someone who bore a particular family crest.
Anyone making a study of heraldry usually
becomes interested in Genealogy or seeking legal claim to a particular family crest. No families, not even royal houses, can make sound claim to bear arms unless a proven connection is established through attested genealogical records."

Just so you will be careful not to be taken in.