given name
A given name (also known as a forename or first name) is the part of a personal name quoted in that identifies a person, potentially with a middle name as well, and differentiates that person from the other members of a group (typically a f ...
in the
English language
English is a West Germanic language that developed in early medieval England and has since become a English as a lingua franca, global lingua franca. The namesake of the language is the Angles (tribe), Angles, one of the Germanic peoples th ...
meaning "
king
King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...
".
Etymology and history
The name Reginald comes from
Latin
Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
meaning "king" and "ruler" symbolizing authority and leadership. It comes from combining Latin “ rex” meaning king and “nald” meaning ruler. The name is derived from ''Reginaldus'' which means "king". This name signifies a ruler or kingly figure, representing authority and leadership. This Latin name is a Latinisation of a
Germanic language
The Germanic languages are a branch of the Indo-European language family spoken natively by a population of about 515 million people mainly in Europe, North America, Oceania, and Southern Africa. The most widely spoken Germanic language, ...
name. The Germanic name is composed of two elements: the first ''ragin'', meaning "advice", "counsel", "decision"; the second element is ''wald'', meaning "rule", "ruler". The
Old German
Old High German (OHG; ) is the earliest stage of the German language, conventionally identified as the period from around 500/750 to 1050. Rather than representing a single supra-regional form of German, Old High German encompasses the numerous ...
Today ''Reginald'' is regarded as a very formal name, and bearers generally shorten their name to ''Reg'' in ordinary usage. ''Reggie (pet name)">Reggie'' is a pet form of ''Reg''.
People with the name
Middle Ages
:''Ordered chronologically''
* Reginald I, Count of Burgundy (986–1057), second Count of the Free County of Burgundy
* Reginald I, Count of Bar, Count of Bar (1105–1149)
* Reginald de Dunstanville, 1st Earl of Cornwall (–1175), also High Sheriff of Devon
*
Raynald of Châtillon
Raynald of Châtillon ( 11244 July 1187), also known as Reynald, Reginald, or Renaud, was Prince of Antioch—a crusader states, crusader state in the Middle East—from 1153 to 1160 or 1161, and Lord of Oultrejordain—a Vassals of the Kingdo ...
(–1187), also known as Reginald of Châtillon, a knight in the Second Crusade and Prince of Antioch
*
Reginald of Sidon
Reginald Grenier (1130s – 1202; also Reynald or Renaud) was lord of Sidon and an important noble in the late-12th century Kingdom of Jerusalem.
Rise to fame
Reginald was the son of Gerard Grenier and Agnes of Bures, and a grandson of Eust ...
(1130s–1202), Count of Sidon and an important noble in the Kingdom of Jerusalem
*
Reginald of Canterbury
Reginald of Canterbury (died after 1109) was a medieval French writer and Benedictine monk who lived and wrote in England in the very early part of the 12th century. He was the author of a number of Latin poems, including an epic entitled ''Malchus ...
, medieval French writer
*
Reginald (bishop of the Isles)
Reginald (died c.1226) was an early thirteenth-century Bishop of the Isles. According to the '' Chronicle of Mann'', he was related to the Crovan dynasty, the royal family of the Kingdom of the Isles
The Kingdom of the Isles, also known as ...
(died )
*
Reginald de Braose
Reginald de Braose (19 September 1182 – June 1228) was one of the sons of William de Braose, 4th Lord of Bramber and Matilda, also known as Maud de St. Valery and Lady de la Haie. Her other children included William and Giles.
The de Braoses ...
Reginald of Burgundy
Reginald of Burgundy (in French, ''Renaud'', died 1321) was Count of Montbéliard, ''jure uxoris'', from 1282 to 1321. He was a son of Hugh of Chalon (from the House of Ivrée), sire of Salins, and his wife Adelaide.
After Reginald's death i ...
Elton John
Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, songwriter and pianist. His music and showmanship have had a significant, lasting impact on the music industry, and his songwriting partnership with l ...
(born Reginald Kenneth Dwight), English singer
*
Reginald Dyer
Colonel Reginald Edward Harry Dyer, (9 October 186423 July 1927) was a British military officer in the Bengal Army and later the newly constituted British Indian Army. His military career began in the regular British Army, but he soon transf ...
(1864-1927), British-Indian army officer, mostly remembered for ordering the
Jallianwala Bagh massacre
The Jallianwala Bagh massacre (), also known as the Amritsar massacre, took place on 13 April 1919. A large crowd had gathered at the Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar, Punjab, British India, during the annual Vaisakhi, Baisakhi fair to protest aga ...
in 1919.
* Reginald Earnshaw (1927–1941), believed to be the youngest person in the British services to have died in the Second World War
*
Reginald Fessenden
Reginald Aubrey Fessenden (October 6, 1866 – July 22, 1932) was a Canadian-American electrical engineer and inventor who received hundreds of List of Reginald Fessenden patents, patents in fields related to radio and sonar between 1891 and 1936 ...
(1866–1932), inventor who conducted pioneering experiments in radio
*
Reggie Fils-Aimé
Reginald Fils-Aimé ( ; born March 25, 1961) is an American businessman best known for being the President (corporate title), president and chief operating officer of Nintendo of America, the North American branch of the Japanese video game co ...
(born 1961), American businessman and former president/COO of Nintendo of America
* Reg Fleming (1936–2009), National Hockey League player
*
Rex Harrison
Sir Reginald Carey Harrison (5 March 1908 – 2 June 1990) was an English actor. Harrison began his career on the stage at the Liverpool Playhouse in 1924. He made his West End debut in 1936 appearing in the Terence Rattigan play '' French W ...
(1908–1990), English actor
* Reginald Goodridge (born 1952), Liberian politician
* Reginald Hill (1936–2012), British crime writer
*
Reginald D. Hunter
Reginald Darnell Hunter (born March 26, 1969) is an American stand-up comedy, stand-up comedian based in the United Kingdom.
Early life
Reginald Darnell Hunter was born on March 26, 1969, in Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, the youngest of nine.Ma ...
, American comedian, living and working in Britain
* Reggie Jackson (born 1946), former Major League Baseball player, member of the Baseball Hall of Fame
* Reg Keys, British anti-war campaigner and parliamentary candidate
* Reginald Knight (died 1969), Rhodesian politician and judge.
* Reginald Kray (1933–2000), one of the
Kray twins
Ronald Kray (24 October 193320 March 1995) and Reginald Kray (24 October 19331 October 2000) were English gangsters or organised crime figures and identical twin brothers from Haggerston who were prominent from the late 1950s until their arres ...
, English criminals
* Reginald Lee (1870-1913), lookout stationed in the crow's nest of the
RMS Titanic
RMS ''Titanic'' was a British ocean liner that Sinking of the Titanic, sank in the early hours of 15 April 1912 as a result of striking Iceberg that struck the Titanic, an iceberg on her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York Ci ...
when the ship collided with an iceberg
*
Reggie Miller
Reginald Wayne Miller (born August 24, 1965) is an American former professional basketball player who List of NBA players who have spent their entire career with one franchise, played his entire 18-year career in the National Basketball Assoc ...
(born 1965), former National Basketball Association player, member of the Basketball Hall of Fame
*
Reginald Mitchell
Reginald Joseph Mitchell (20 May 1895 – 11 June 1937) was a British Aerospace engineering, aircraft designer who worked for the Southampton aviation company Supermarine from 1916 until 1936. He is best known for designing racing seaplanes ...
(1885-1937), British
aeronautical engineer
Aerospace engineering is the primary field of engineering concerned with the development of aircraft and spacecraft. It has two major and overlapping branches: aeronautical engineering and astronautical engineering. Avionics engineering is s ...
, designer of the
Supermarine Spitfire
The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was used by the Royal Air Force and other Allies of World War II, Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. It was the only British fighter produced conti ...
* Reginald Noble, best known as Redman
* Reginald Orton (1810–1862), British surgeon
* Reginald Owen (1887-1972), British character actor
* Reginald Perera (1915-1977), Sri Lankan Sinhala Trotskyist
*
Reginald Pole
Reginald Pole (12 March 1500 – 17 November 1558) was an English cardinal and the last Catholic Archbishop of Canterbury, holding the office from 1556 to 1558 during the Marian Restoration of Catholicism.
Early life
Pole was born at Stourt ...
Reginald Prentice
Reginald Ernest Prentice, Baron Prentice, Privy Council (United Kingdom), PC (16 July 1923 – 18 January 2001) was a British politician who held ministerial office in both Labour Party (UK), Labour and Conservative Party (UK), Conservative Par ...
Reg Varney
Reginald Alfred Varney (11 July 1916 – 16 November 2008) was an English actor, entertainer and comedian. He is best remembered for having played the lead role of bus driver Stan Butler in the London Weekend Television, LWT sitcom ''On the Buse ...
(1916–2008), English actor, entertainer and comedian
* Reginald VelJohnson (born 1952), American actor
* Reggie White (1961–2004), American football player, member of both the College and Pro Football Halls of Fame
* Reginald Mengi, who was a Tanzanian Billionaire, and chairman of IPP companies
* Reginald (wrestler), professional wrestler and former acrobat
Fictional characters
* Reginald, in
Saki
Hector Hugh Munro (18 December 1870 – 14 November 1916), popularly known by his pen name Saki and also frequently as H. H. Munro, was a British writer whose witty, mischievous and sometimes macabre stories satirise Edwardian society and ...
short stories
* Reginald, nemesis and cousin of Richie Rich in the movie and comic books
* Reginald Barclay, a recurring character in the ''
Star Trek
''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the Star Trek: The Original Series, series of the same name and became a worldwide Popular culture, pop-culture Cultural influence of ...
'' fictional universe
* Reginald Bunthorne, the main character of the
Gilbert and Sullivan
Gilbert and Sullivan refers to the Victorian-era theatrical partnership of the dramatist W. S. Gilbert (1836–1911) and the composer Arthur Sullivan (1842–1900) and to the works they jointly created. The two men collaborated on fourteen com ...
opera ''
Patience
or forbearance, is the ability to endure difficult or undesired long-term circumstances. Patience involves perseverance or tolerance in the face of delay, provocation, or stress without responding negatively, such as reacting with disrespect ...
''
* Bushroot, Reginald Bushroot, supervillain in the Disney television series '' Darkwing Duck''
* Reginald Deadman, police constable in the British television sitcom '' Goodnight Sweetheart''
* Reggie Mantle, in Archie Comics
* Reginald Perrin, the main character of a series of novels by David Nobbs, and ''
The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin
''The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin'' is a British sitcom starring Leonard Rossiter in the title role. Three series were produced from 1976 to 1979, based on a series of novels written by David Nobbs. Nobbs adapted the screenplay for the fi ...
'', the popular BBC-commissioned 1970s comedy based upon it
* Reginald Jeeves, the personal servant to Bertie Wooster in a series of short stories and novels by P. G. Wodehouse
* Reginald "Reg" Hollis, a long-standing fictional police constable in the British television series ''
The Bill
''The Bill'' is a British police procedural television series, broadcast on ITV (TV network), ITV from 16 October 1984 until 31 August 2010. The programme originated from a one-off drama, "Woodentop (The Bill), Woodentop" (part of the ''Storyb ...
''
* Reginald "Bubbles" Cousins, in the American television series ''
The Wire
''The Wire'' is an American Crime fiction, crime Drama (film and television), drama television series created and primarily written by the American author and former police reporter David Simon for the cable network HBO. The series premiered o ...
''
* Reginald, a fictional
koala
The koala (''Phascolarctos cinereus''), sometimes inaccurately called the koala bear, is an arboreal herbivorous marsupial native to Australia. It is the only Extant taxon, extant representative of the Family (biology), family ''Phascolar ...
in ''
American Dad!
''American Dad!'' is an American animated sitcom created by Seth MacFarlane, Mike Barker (producer), Mike Barker and Matt Weitzman for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series premiered on February 6, 2005, following Super Bowl XXXIX, with the r ...
'', voiced by Erik Durbin
* Chief Inspector Reginald Wexford, the protagonist in a series of mysteries by
Ruth Rendell
Ruth Barbara Rendell, Baroness Rendell of Babergh, (; 17 February 1930 – 2 May 2015) was an English author of thrillers and psychological murder mysteries.
Rendell is best known for creating Chief Inspector Wexford.The Oxford Companion ...
Stephen King
Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author. Dubbed the "King of Horror", he is widely known for his horror novels and has also explored other genres, among them Thriller (genre), suspense, crime fiction, crime, scienc ...
That '70s Show
''That '70s Show'' is an American television teen sitcom that aired on Fox from August 23, 1998, to May 18, 2006. The series focuses on the lives of a group of six teenage friends living in the fictional town of Point Place, Wisconsin, from 197 ...
''
* Reginald Roach, in the '' RoboRoach'' animated TV series
* Chief Superintendent Reginald Bright, in the '' Endeavour'' TV series
* Reginald Bane, a recurring character in '' Mysticons'' animated TV series
* Captain Reginald Thisleton, a World War I fighter pilot whom Woodhouse is heavily implied to have been lovers with in an episode of Archer
* Reginald, a
lion
The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large Felidae, cat of the genus ''Panthera'', native to Sub-Saharan Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body (biology), body; a short, rounded head; round ears; and a dark, hairy tuft at the ...
in
64 Zoo Lane
''64 Zoo Lane'' (French: ''64, rue du Zoo'') is a children's animated series created by Belgian-born English author An Vrombaut. The series is co-produced by French animation studio Millimages and British-based Zoo Lane Productions in associat ...