Rainier

Rainier is a French form of an old Germanic name built from elements for counsel and an army. The related spellings Rainer and Rayner show how that name developed in different languages. Its first syllable is not derived from the English word rain, despite the tempting association when the name is read in English.

The name has a royal connection through Monaco and a geographic one through Mount Rainier in Washington. Those references give it quite different possibilities as an honor name: a family may be thinking of European history, a mountain landscape, or an inherited name. French and American English pronunciations also differ noticeably. The mountain association is therefore useful context, but it does not replace the older personal name's meaning or make every Rainier a weather name.