# Rainer (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/rainer/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. Counts from the US Census Bureau; origin and etymology from Wiktionary; bearers from Wikidata. Data updated 2026-11-11.

An English and American surname transferred from the given name.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | not recorded |
| Type | patronymic, formed from a father’s (or ancestor’s) given name |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 3,518 |
| US rank (2010) | 9,255 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 87,762 people |
| Change since 2000 | +13% (3,107 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |

## Etymology

Variant of Rayner, a patronymic surname from a medieval given name from Proto-Germanic *raginą (“counsel by the gods”) + *harjaz (“army”). Also borrowed from modern German.

## Who carries it

Share of people named Rainer in the 2010 US Census by the Census's own race and ethnicity groups. The Census suppresses a share when the count behind it is small.

| Group | Share |
|---|---|
| White (not Hispanic) | 72% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 23% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 2.1% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.5% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.6% |
| Two or more races | 2.6% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Rainer in Austria and the United States.

## People named Rainer

- Yvonne Rainer, American artist (born 1934)
- Arnulf Rainer, Austrian artist (1929–2025)
- Roland Rainer, architect from Austria (1910-2004)
- Karl Rainer, Austrian association football player (1901-1987)
- Alfred Rainer, Austrian alpine skier (1987–2008)

## Similar surnames

Raynor, Reiner, Rayner, Riner, Ranieri, Renier, Raymer, Ramer, Rimer, Ramiro, Romero, Renner.

## How to read these numbers

A Census count is people alive and counted in 2010, not births, and names occurring fewer than 100 times are not published at all. Ethnicity shares are the Census's own categories.