Mirth? Is Renfro Welsh?

[blackapple]

This is my grandmother's maiden name and I can never find anything about it I think is accurate enough to satisfy me. The best I can find is from ancestry.com's surname database, that says it is Welsh, a form of Renfrew, from rhyn frwd meaning "point of current" which I take to mean a river?

My original guess before searching was Old German, either hraben or ragan + fridr.

Can you, or anyone else, shed any light on it? I haven't got that side traced back to the original immigrants, so I have no idea where they came from, but the traditional tale told to us passed down by family is Scottish.

[Bumblebee_oldacct]

There's a town called Renfrew in Scotland, which is supposed to be Rinn Friù in Scottish Gaelic (different to Welsh) but still means 'point of the current'. It's an old town - been around since at least 1300's.

There were a few Renfro's listed in Scotland in the 1800's (search http://www.ancestry.com.au/) so it could be possible that's the origin of the name? Someone from Renfrew was given the surname Renfro? Especially since your traditional family tale is Scottish.

[Mirth]

Unfortunately, my reference texts are packed at the mo', but I'd say that Renfro < Renfrew makes sense and is the most plausible source of the name :)

[speechykeen]

Heh, Renfrew is a rural, kind of trashy, part of my hometown. Used to be an oil town, and now there's no "town". Just a church, some farms, and a railroad.

And I've always been told that Renfrew is Scottish, too. It's a relatively common name where I'm from.