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In the Anglo-Saxon, Danish, Dutch and German languages, the word rand signifies a border, margin or edge. It first appearsin England as a patronymic in the early part of the fifteenth century, when there were Rands at Rand's Grange, a small town near Bedale, and also in Yorkshire in 1475. In Evelyn's Diary he mentions "his friend, Dr. Rand." The name is found in the London records as early as 1633: in Ripple, Kent, in 1600; in Gateshead, county Durham, 1578; in Northamptonshire, Bedfordshire, Lincolnshire, Essex and other counties at later dates. There are numerous coats-of-arms borne by branches of this family in England. There were three early immigrants of this name to New England. James Rand settled in Plymouth, coming in 1623 in the ship "Ann," but probably returned before 1627. Francis Rand came to Rye, New Hampshire, and has many descendants. Robert Rand ...
From Genealogical and personal memoirs relating to the families of Boston and eastern Massachusetts, Volume 2, p. 641.