As a Dutchwoman, Rence feels like an anglicisation of
Rens to me, which is interesting. That said, perhaps Rence never became a popular short form of
Laurence,
Lawrence and
Terence because of its heavy similarity to
pence, the plural of
penny (the subunit of the pound sterling and Irish pound). And perhaps also to other English words, such as
fence,
hence and
thence. People might then have thought that
Larry and
Laurie were better alternatives, because those are less easily associated with ordinary words.
"It is no measure of health to be well-adjusted to a profoundly sick society." ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti (1895-1986)