Ragnall (name)

{{for|the place|Ragnall}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}

{{Infobox given name2

| name = Ragnall

| image = Raghnall name.svg

| image_size =

| caption = Raghnall in a Gaelic type, note the lenited g in the name (gh) once appeared in Irish orthography with a dot above it, as pictured.

| pronunciation =

| gender = Masculine

| nameday =

| language = Old Irish, Middle Irish/Middle Gaelic

| languageorigin = Old Norse

| origin = Røgnvaldr, Rǫgnvaldr, Rögnvaldr

| derivation = regin + valdr

| meaning = "(German) Gods", "powerful"

| variant =

| shortform =

| petname =

| cognate = see list

| anglicisation =

| derivative = Raghnall, Raonall, Raonull

| seealso =

| popularity =

| footnotes =

| wikt =

}}

Ragnall, Raghnall, Raonall, and Raonull are masculine personal names or given names in several Gaelic languages.

Ragnall occurs in Old Irish,{{Citation |last=Reaney |first=Percy Hilde |author2=Wilson, Richard Middlewood |title=A Dictionary of English Surnames |edition=3rd |year=2006 |publisher=Routledge |location=London |isbn=0-203-99355-1 |page=2668 }} and Middle Irish/Middle Gaelic.{{citation |last=Woolf |first=Alex |authorlink=Alex Woolf |contribution=Scotland |editor1-last= Stafford |editor1-first=Pauline |title=A Companion to the Early Middle Ages: Britain and Ireland, c.500-c.1100 |series=Blackwell Companions to History |publisher=Blackwell Publishing |year=2009 |isbn=978-1-4051-0628-3 |page=254 }}{{citation |last=Sellar |first=W. D. H. |title=Alba: Celtic Scotland in the Middle Ages |page=187 |year=2000 |editor1-last=Cowan |editor1-first=Edward J. |contribution=Hebridean Sea Kings: The Successors of Somerled, 1164-1316 |location=East Linton |publisher=Tuckwell Press |isbn=1-86232-151-5 |editor2-last=McDonald |editor2-first=R. Andrew |editor1-link=Edward J. Cowan |authorlink=W. D. H. Sellar}} It is a Gaelicised form of the Old Norse Røgnvaldr, Rǫgnvaldr, Rögnvaldr.{{citation |last=Downham |first=Clare |title=Viking Kings of Britain and Ireland: The Dynasty of Ívarr to A.D. 1014 |publisher=Dunedin Academic Press |location=Edinburgh |year=2007 |isbn=978-1-903765-89-0 |page=3 }} This Old Norse name is composed of two elements: regin, meaning "(Germanic) Gods"; and valdr, meaning "powerful". It has also been suggested that Ragnall could also represent the Old Norse Ragnarr as well.{{citation |last=Byrne |first=Francis John |contribution=Ireland before the battle of Clontarf |title=Prehistoric and Early Ireland |editor1-last=Ó Cróinín |editor1-first=D |series=A New History of Ireland |volume=1 |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2008 |location=Oxford |isbn=978-0-19-821737-4 |page=855 }} Ragnall can be Anglicised as Ranald and Ronald, and Latinised as Reginald, Reginaldus.

The modern spelling is Raghnall in Scottish Gaelic and either Raghnall or Raonull in Irish. Anglicised forms of Raghnall include: Ranald, Rannal, and Ronald.{{citation |last1=Hanks |first1=Patrick |last2=Hardcastle |authorlink1=Patrick Hanks |first2=Kate |last3=Hodges |first3=Flavia |title=A Dictionary of First Names |edition=2nd |series=Oxford Paperback Reference |year=2006 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |isbn=978-0-19-861060-1 |pages=355, 407 }}

The final -ll sound of the Gaelic names are de-vocalized{{clarify|reason=Does it mean "devoiced"? Either way, there are two more sensible explanations. In Gaelic, "ll" used to be ld (sometimes "ln"). And after the borrowing, in Scots, word-final "ld" evolved into "l" in most dialects.|date=October 2024}}, and to non-Gaelic-speakers this suggests -d sound. In this way the name is similar to the various forms of the Gaelic Domhnall, which can be Anglicised as Donald.{{citation |last=Black |first=George Fraser |title=The Surnames of Scotland: Their Origin, Meaning, and History |publisher=New York Public Library |location=New York |year=1946 |page=682 }}