Ronnie

Ronnie is the English diminutive and pet form of Ronald, which itself is the anglicized version of an old Scandinavian personal name (Rögnvaldr) derived from the Old Norse elements “regin” meaning “advice, decision” (i.e., in the sense of “the gods”) and “valdr” meaning “ruler”. Rögnvaldr basically means “with god’s guidance” or “wise ruler”. The name was brought first to northern England and Scotland by way of the Viking invaders and Scandinavian settlers in the early Middle Ages; later to be borne by a 12th century Scottish/Norwegian saint, Ragnvald Kale Kollsson (also known as St. Ronald or St. Ronald of Orkney). St. Ronald was a warrior chieftain in the Orkney Islands, Scotland, and is credited with building the cathedral St. Magnus at Kirkwall in 1137. Ronald was later murdered by a group of rebelling warriors and was venerated as a martyr at Kirkwall. He was canonized before the century was over. Ronald was a regularly used name in Scotland during medieval times and became wide-spread among all English-speaking nations by the 19th century. Ronnie has been used both as a pet form for Ronald and as an independently given name in its own right. Ronnie is also sometime considered a female pet name for Veronica.