René
René (born again or reborn in French) is a common first name in both French-speaking and Spanish-speaking countries. It derives from the Latin name Renatus.
René is the masculine form of the name (Renée being the feminine form). In some non-Francophone countries, however, there exists the habit of giving the name René (sometimes spelled without an accent) to boys and also to girls. In addition, both forms are used as surnames (family names).
René as a first name given to boys in the United States reached its peaks in popularity in 1969 and 1983 when it ranked 256th. Since 1983 its popularity has been continuously in decline and it ranked 772nd in 2013.[1] Renée as a first name given to girls in the United States reached its peak in popularity in 1967 when it ranked 62nd. Since then its popularity has been continuously declining.
First name
As first name, it may refer to:
- René, Duke of Anjou (1409–1480), titular king of Naples and Jerusalem
- René II, Duke of Lorraine (1451–1508), grandson of René of Anjou
- René I, Viscount of Rohan (1516–1552), warrior of the Italian War of 1551–1559
- René II, Viscount of Rohan (1550–1586), his huguenot son
- René Auberjonois, American actor
- René Barents (born 1951), Dutch judge and legal scholar
- René Bernards (born 1953), Duch oncologist
- Cardinal René de Birague (1505–1583)
- Rene Bitorajac, Croatian actor
- Rene Capo, Cuban-American judoka
- René Chamussy (1936-2016), French-Lebanese Jesuit priest and academic administrator
- René Descartes, French philosopher
- René Fonck, French aviator and most successful pilot in World War I
- René de Froulay de Tessé (1648–1725), French marshal
- Rene Gagnon, American World War II veteran, raised the American flag during the battle of Iwo Jima
- René Goscinny, French comic book editor and writer
- René Goupil (1608–1642), Canadian Catholic martyr and saint
- René Janssen (born 1959), Dutch nanotechnologist
- Rene Kirby, American actor
- Rene Lepine, Canadian businessman and real estate developer
- René Lévesque, Canadian/Québécois journalist and politician, premier of Quebec
- René Magritte, Belgian surrealist painter
- René Marqués, Puerto Rican short story writer and playwright
- Rene Mederos, Cuban poster artist and graphic designer
- Rene Medvešek, Croatian actor
- René Muñoz (1938–2000), Cuban actor and scriptwriter
- René Pape, German opera singer
- Rene Ranger (born 1986), New Zealand rugby player
- René Reyes, American baseball player
- René Robert, Canadian ice hockey player
- René Rougeau (born 1986), American basketball player for Maccabi Haifa of the Israeli Basketball Premier League
- Rene Russo, American actress
- René Steinke, German actor
- René Toribio (1912-1990), Guadeloupean politician
Family name
As family name, it may refer to:
- Denise René (1919–2012), French art dealer
- Wendy Rene (1947 – 2014), American soul singer and songwriter
Other
- René (1802), a novella by Chateaubriand
- René 41, a nickel based superalloy
- René, Sarthe, French commune
- Saint-René (disambiguation), several places
Variants in different languages
- Renát Hungarian, Slovak
- Renato Italian, Portuguese, Spanish
- Renátus Slovak
- Renatus Latin
- René Czech, French, German, Slovak, Spanish, Dutch
- Röné Hungarian