Rinne 1

Rinne is an Irish surname, specifically an Anglicized form of the Gaelic name Ó Rinn. The prefix Ó denotes "descendant of," and the root element Rinn is derived from a personal name meaning "star" in the Irish language. Thus, Rinne carries a poetic connotation of lineage from a stellar-bearer.

The Gaelic original, Ó Rinn, was historically concentrated in counties where Irish naming traditions persisted during the period of Anglicization. As with many Irish surnames, the shift from Ó Rinn to Rinne occurred through phonetic transcription by English-speaking clerks, local variant settlement, and simplification of spelling in the 17th–19th centuries.

Notable bearers of the Rinne name in Irish history are less documented compared to surnames with recorded genealogies, but the name reflects a patronymic tradition common across the Gaeltacht.