The story
- Old English · derived from-an
- Middle English · derived from-en
- Old English · derived from-ru
- Middle English · derived from-re
- Middle English · inherited from-ren
- English today-ren
In standard language, a back-formation from children and brethren. In dialectal usage, from Middle English -ren, -eren (compounded plural ending), from Middle English -re, -ere (from Old English -ru (plural ending)) + Middle English -en (from Old English -an (plural ending)).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.