Rainbow Family History

English: altered form of an Old French personal name, Rainbaut, composed of the Germanic elements ragin ‘counsel’ + bald ‘bold’, ‘brave’. The form of the name has been affected by folk etymological association with the vocabulary word rainbow. Compare Rammel, Raybould. Translation of the German and Ashkenazic Jewish surname Regenbogen. The German name is a habitational name for someone who lived at a house distinguished by the sign of a rainbow, Middle High German regenboge. The Jewish name is ornamental from German Regenbogen, one of the group of ornamental names based on natural phenomena.

Source: Dictionary of American Family Names ©2013, Oxford University Press