Origin of Surname
The surname Renouf, which is found extensively in Jersey, originated as a given name. Renoaf is the Norman Ranulf either from the Norse Ragnulf or Frankish Regenwulf, or Ragin Wulf. The exact origin is disputed.
Our trusted source of information on French names (and several other sources for derivation of family names) suggests that the name Renou comes from the germanic Raginwulf (ragin = 'counsel' + wulf = 'wolf') and notes that spelling variants are found in Manche - Renouf; Ile et Vilaine, Brittany - Renoul; and further south - Renoux, although that may have a different derivation, from the given name Arnou.
It is also suggested that the name comes from the Germanic Raginwald, roughly translated as a ruler who took advice.
Norse or German?
It is alternatively suggested that because Renou/Renouf are exclusive to Normandy, the origin must have been the Norse Ragnulf. This might be a somewhat academic distinction because sources for Norse names suggest that Ragnulf is a variant of the personal name Raginolf, which is of old German origin.
By the end of the first millennium Renouf became established as a surname in Normandy, with a variety of spellings, and people with the surname lived in the villages in the northern Contentin Peninsula (Theville, Gonnerville) and around Caen and Bayeux (Isigny-sur-Mer, Ver-sur-Mer, Cahagnes, Saint Contest, Cheux, Mosles, Landes Sur Ajon). They were not all related.
Early records
The Falaise Roll, which lists the Companions who fought with William the Conqueror in 1066 at the Battle of Hastings, includes five Renoufs; Renouf of Vailort and Renouf of St Valery (both in Upper Normandy); Renouf of Colonbelles; Renouf of Vaubadan (both in Lower Normandy, near Caen) and Renouf Peveral. However, the Doomsday Book of 1086 shows that there were no Renoufs among the 190 Norman counts who held over half of England as their fief.
The name appears in the Assize Roll of 1309.
Variants
- Ranulf
- Ranulph
- Ranulphu
- Renou
- Renoul
- Renoux
Family records
Family trees
The first three trees show essentially the same lineage but there are differences of opinion about relationships in the early generations. They should be viewed together by researchers into this part of the Renouf tree
- Descendants of Pierre Renouf (1579)
- Descendants of Pierre Renouf son of Jean
- Descendants of Jean Renouf of Guernsey
- Descendants of Isaac Renouf
- Descendants of Jean Servan Renouf
- Descendants of Jean Gallichan Renouf
- Descendants of Joshua Renouf
- Descendants of Renauld Renouf
- Descendants of Jean Renouf
- Descendants of Clement Renouf Revised and extended in 2020 Incorrect section removed in 2022
- Descendants of Philippe Renouf and Esther Syvret
- Descendants of Jean Renouf of St Martin
- Descendants of Edouard Renouf NEW
- Descendants of Jean Renouf of St Mary (1480) Added 2018
- Descendants of James Renouf Added 2021
- Descendants of Isaac Renouf - 2 Added 2021
- Descendants of Jean Renouf - 2 Added 2021
- Descendants of Jean Renouf - 3 Added in 2022 to correct error in Descendants of Clement Renouf
- Descendants of Nicolas Renouf Added 2022
Church records
- Renouf baptisms in Jersey
- Renouf marriages in Jersey (groom)
- Renouf marriages in Jersey (bride)
- Renouf burials in Jersey
Renouf family histories
- A history of Jersey Renoufs, by Roland de Caen
- Vice Admiral Edward de Faye Renouf Added 2016
Great War service
Family wills
Burial records
Notable islanders
- Sir Peter Le Page Renouf, Egyptologist
- George Poddester Renouf, Canadian immigrant
- Jeanne Emily Renouf, an Occupation story
Emigrant to Canada
Family businesses
- Charles George Renouf, followed by his son Charles Stephen, ran a grocery, specialising in tea, at 11 King Street, from 1874 to 1912
- Philippe Renouf was a grocer at 61 King Street in the 1850s
- William Renouf was landlord of the public house at 75 King Street during the 1870s
- Ironmonger John Renouf was at 38 Halkett Place in the 1860s
- Louisa Ann Renouf ran the Berlin Fancy Repository at 39 Halkett Place in the 1880s
- Charlotte Renouf was a grocer at 32 Queen Street in the 1850s
Renouf father and son, tea merchants. See Descendants of Jean Renouf of St Martin
Family properties
- Le Houguillon, Trinity
- L'Aleval, St Peter
- La Caumine, St Helier
- Le Franc Fief, St Brelade
- Le Catillon St Martin
- La Franchise St Martin
- La Cote au Palier, St Martin
DNA Study
- Renouf DNA Study at Family Tree DNA
Further Reading
- Renouf Family Genealogy - Jacky Renouf's study of this island family traces the family back to before the Norman Conquest
- 1899 Diary of Charles Adolphus Renouf - fully digitised version at archive.org
Links
- Jeanne Emily Renouf, an Occupation story
Family album
Mr Renouf, photographed by Ernest Baudoux
Ada Renouf (1866-1943) d of Henry Jeandron and Ellen Mary Renouf, with husband Allen Irwin. Ada went to Canada aged 14 as barnardo's Child on the Circassian after the death of her father. She was badly treated in the Quebec home she was sent to and her aunt Louisa Renouf Flynn moved her to the Irwin household. She married Allen after his wife died in 1884
Sergeant John de La Cour Renouf, died in the Great War
Ann Susan Mauger, born in St Brelade in 1870, married Philip Samuel Renouf (1861-1935). They had seven children. The middle one, Alfred John, born in 1894, lost his life in the Great War, killed in action in the Somme in 1918
Doris Phillips, nee Renouf (1891-1972) daughter of John and Delahay, nee Wood, with her husband Harold George Phillips' parents Samuel and Harriett
George Humby Renouf and Ann, nee Denton
A postcard sent to Mrs Renouf at Greenhill, Gorey, for Christmas 1910 from S Le Gresley. A little detective work has enabled us to trace this Renouf family back to the 17th century
Occupation curfew cards
Curfew passes issued to Harold, Lawrence and Nelson Renouf during the Occupation as members of the Honorary Police [1]
Family gravestones
Click on any image to see a larger version. See the Jerripedia gravestone image collection page for more information about our gravestone photographs
The grave of Great War casualty Edward Renouf at Courcelette British Cemetery, Somme
The grave of Great War casualty John de la Cour Renouf at Ste Marie Cemetery, Le Havre
The grave of Great War casualty Stanley John Renouf at Bancourt British Cemetery, Near Bapaume
The grave of Great War casualty Wilford Vautier Renouf at St Lawrence churchyard, Stratford-Sub-Castle, near Salisbury
Tips
The church record links above will open in a new tab in your browser and generate the most up-to-date list of each set of records from our database. These lists replace earlier Family page baptism lists, which were not regularly updated. They have the added advantage that they produce a chronological listing for the family name in all parishes, so you do not have to search through A-Z indexes, parish by parish.
We have included some important spelling variants on some family pages, but it may be worth searching for records for a different spelling variant. Think of searching for variants with or without a prefix, such as Le or De. To search for further variants, or for any other family name, just click on the appropriate link below for the first letter of the family name, and a new tab will open, giving you the option to choose baptism, marriage or burial records. You will then see a list of available names for that type of record and you can select any name from that list. That will display all records of the chosen type for that family name, and you can narrow the search by adding a given name, selecting a parish or setting start and end dates in the form you will see above. You can also change the family name, or search for a partial name if you are not certain of the spelling
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New records
Since August 2020 we have added several thousand new records from the registers of Roman Catholic, Methodist and other non-conformist churches. These will appear in date order within a general search of the records and are also individually searchable within the database search form
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Notes and references
- ↑ These cards are held by Jersey Archive. Visit The Archive online catalogue for more information. A subscription may be needed to view some of the site's content