Ronald

Where the name comes from

• Old Norse, via Scotland
  "having the gods' power" (etymonline). The elements are rögn "gods" (literally "decreeing powers") and valdr "ruler".
  Old Norse Rögnvaldr (Norwegian Ragnvald); continental cognate Reginald/Reynold, from Proto-Germanic *ragin "counsel, might" + *wald "power, authority" (DMNES)
  Attested origin: etymonline, "from Old Norse Rögnvaldr "Having the Gods' Power"". Route into English: Store norske leksikon calls Ronald "a Scottish-English male name" corresponding to Nordic Ragnvald, possibly an early loan into Scotland. It may also have come through Scottish Gaelic Raghnall. The first element is glossed differently: "gods" (etymonline), "counsel, might" (DMNES, for the cognate *ragin), "advice" (Wiktionary). No openable source supports an Old English origin.

Ronald across traditions

• Norse and Scandinavian. Ragnvald is the Nordic form. In Norway Ronald shares the name day of 9 August (Store norske leksikon). DMNES records Old Swedish Rangwald in 1383 under the cognate Reynold.
• Scottish (Norse-Gaelic). Norse rulers in Scotland bore the name. A mid-12th-century earl of Orkney, Ragnvald, built the cathedral at Kirkwall in honor of his martyred uncle St. Magnus (Britannica). Ragnvald (Rögnvaldr, Latin Reginald), King of the Isles, was killed at Tynwald on 14 February 1229 (People of Medieval Scotland). Ronald is the Scottish-English form (Store norske leksikon).
• United States (SSA). 608,410 births in the SSA decade top-200 tables, 1950s–2010s. Peak decade: the 1950s, at #15 for boys (271,139 births). Top 100 from the 1950s through the 1980s. Sources: ssa.gov/oact/babynames/decades/names1950s.html through names2010s.html.

Who carried it

• Ragnvald, earl of Orkney (mid-12th century): Built the great cathedral at Kirkwall in honor of his martyred uncle St. Magnus (Britannica).
• Ragnvald (Rögnvaldr), King of the Isles (active 1190–1223; died 1229): Norse-Gaelic king of Man and the Isles, killed in battle with his brother at Tynwald on 14 February 1229 (People of Medieval Scotland).
• Ronald W. Reagan (1911–2004): 40th president of the United States, 1981–89 (Britannica).

Forms in other languages

Ragnvald, Rögnvaldr, Raghnall

Ronald in letter-number systems

Hebrew, Greek and other traditions gave every letter a number, and read meaning into the totals. These are the counts, computed; the readings are inside the Innerverse.