Rimington

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A British family name borne by Stella, the former director-general of MI5 who later wrote spy novels ; a small village in the Ribble Valley of Lancashire, England
2. The surname of a former head of Britain's MI5 security service who became a novelist ; a rural settlement in northwest England near the Ribble Valley
3. A family name known from the former MI5 chief Stella and her spy fiction ; a little village in Lancashire in the north of England

Etymology: "Rimington" is a surname taken from the village of Rimington in the Ribble Valley of Lancashire, England, where the place name is older than the family name. The village's name is usually linked to Old English elements, but the exact meaning is uncertain, and I would not want to guess at it. The name became widely known in Britain through Stella Rimington, who was Director-General of MI5, the domestic security service, from 1992 to 1996. She was the first woman to hold the post and the first to be publicly named while in it, so the surname now mainly brings that association to mind for many readers.