Family name origins & meanings
- English : nickname for a powerfully built man or someone of violent emotions, from the Middle English adjective rank (Old English ranc ‘proud’, ‘rebellious’).
- English : from a medieval personal name, a back-formation from the diminutive Rankin.
- South German : variant of Rang 2.
- German : nickname either for an agile person, from Middle High German ranc ‘quick turn’, or in some instances for someone who was tall and thin, from Low German rank. In some cases the surname may have been from a personal name formed with this element.
- Czech : from a pet form of a personal name, which could be either Slavic Ranožir or Germanic Randolf (see Randolph).
- Swedish and Danish : nickname from rank ‘erect’, ‘upright’, ‘straight’.