The town's name was in homage to the Viscount Ranelagh, an Irish nobleman who had Ranelagh Gardens built in Chelsea, England in 1742.
Through Hyde, he became acquainted with Richard Jones, 1st Earl of Ranelagh, paymaster of the forces, by whom he was appointed deputy paymaster of William III to the army in Flanders during the War of the Grand Alliance, 1688–96.
# Thomas Jones, whose descendants reclaimed the Ranelagh Viscountcy after a period of dormancy following the death of Richard Jones, 1st Earl of Ranelagh.
Richard Nixon | Richard Wagner | Tom Jones | Tom Jones (singer) | Richard Strauss | Richard Branson | Quincy Jones | Cliff Richard | Richard Gere | Indiana Jones | Richard Burton | Norah Jones | Richard Hammond | Richard | Richard Dawkins | James Earl Jones | Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex | Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma | Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson | Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener | Little Richard | George Jones | Chuck Jones | John Paul Jones | Richard Feynman | Richard Attenborough | Richard M. Daley | Richard I of England | Grace Jones | Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis |
He was the eldest son of Arthur Jones, 2nd Viscount Ranelagh and Katherine Boyle, daughter of the Earl of Cork who counted amongst her brothers the chemist Robert Boyle and Lord Broghill, the later Earl of Orrery who was a prominent politician in Cromwellian and Restoration times.
The play's theme, "You'd Better Believe It, Babe" was written by Richard Jones, and performed by his band, Meal Ticket.