# Rainey (surname)

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

A surname from Irish.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | Irish |
| Type | patronymic, formed from a father’s (or ancestor’s) given name |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 23,291 |
| US rank (2010) | 1,545 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 13,256 people |
| Change since 2000 | +4.0% (22,397 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Variant spellings | Rainy, Raney, Ranney, Rannie, Rany, Raynie, Reaney, Reany, Rennie, Renny |

## Etymology

Reduced Anglicized form of Irish Ó Raighne (“descendant of Raighne”), a Gaelicized form of the Old Norse personal name Rognvaldr.

## Who carries it

Share of people named Rainey 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) | 63% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 32% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 2.0% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.3% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.7% |
| Two or more races | 2.1% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Rainey in the United States and Israel.

## People named Rainey

- Ma Rainey, American blues singer (1886–1939)
- Wayne Rainey, American motorcycle racer
- Ford Rainey, American actor (1908–2005)
- Anson Rainey, American historian (1930–2011)
- Henry Thomas Rainey, American politician (1860-1934)

## Similar surnames

Raney, Roney, Roane, Ranney, Rine, Raine, Ruane, Riney, Rani, Rain, Raina, Rinne.

## 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.