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I want to know the meaning of a name one of my ancestors had- Ren. It's a male name and on BtN it says it's Japanese but where he lived in the UK and in his time in the 1800s, they wouldn't have been given Japanese names- hardly any of them could even read or write! I was wondering if it was short for Reginald and if his parents were trying to be unique because he was named after his uncle who I imagine was named after his mother's brother, called Reginald. Really strange name to have though. Why not just Reginald. Or John, or Thomas?!