Named after Rahnsdorf, an old fishing village between the Müggelspree and the Müggelsee.
Rahnsdorf was founded as a Slavic fishing village; its layout is typical of the first phase of German settlement, probably in the first third of the 13th century. The name probably goes back to the home village of the first settlers near Wittenberg. Rahnsdorf is first recorded in 1319, in the accounts of Köpenick castle. The station opened in 1879.