Rainer (RAY-ner) is an Old German boy name and patronymic surname meaning "deciding warrior," or "advising army." You might choose the older spelling option Rayner, older still is Ragnar, which ultimately came from the elements ragina, "counsel from the gods," and harjaz, "army." It has seen several variations of spelling from country to country, such as Raynor, Rainiero, and Rainier. There's loads of namesakes for each international version of the name, from Prince Rainier of Monaco to the poet Rainer Maria Rilke. Rain is the Estonian short form, but would obviously work well as a nickname today.
I grew up on a street that was named an Italian variant of Roger. When I got married and we bought our first house, it turned out to be on Roger Street. Once noting that coincidence, I started searching for other variants of the name. However, female variants turned out to be pretty nonexistent. Save for Roxeria, which I later discovered was the Galician female form, possibly pronounced rohz-AIR-ee-uh. That led me to a few lists of female Galician names, ranging from common to rare. Here is a sampling of names not often heard here in the states... Albina Alda Alma Alodia Aloia Amada Amadora Amalia Amparo Anisia Antia Araceli Aranzazu Artemisa Avelina Azucena Baia Balbina Baltasara Beatriz Benvida Berenice Bieita Branca Braulia Caetana Carola Casilda Casimira Ceferina Celsa Cipriana Cira Clorinda Coralia Cornelia Cosima Davinia Delfina Desideria Dionisia Dominga Dorinda Dorotea Dositea Edelmira Edenia Elba Elvira Emiliana Etelvina ...
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