This most interesting surname is of English locational origin from a place called "Stanney" in Cheshire, which was recorded "Stanei", in the Domesday Book of 1086. The placename is composed of the Anglo-Saxon elements, "stan", stone, stoney, and "eg", island, hence "stoney island". The name is first recorded in Scotland in the mid 14th Century (see below). Locational names were originally given to the Lord of the Manor or as a means of identification to those who left their place of origin to seek work elsewhere. One Thomas Stanne was magistrate of Aberdeen in 1489, according to Scottish records. The surname first appears in London Church Registers on May 7th 1587 when Nicholas Stanney married Dorathie Palmer at St. Mary Magdalene, Bermondsey. William Stannie married one Ann Runwell on October 13th 1616 at Harlington, London, while one Ann Stany was christened at St. Benet's Church, London on November 5th 1618. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Sir Michael Stany, Chaplain of St. Andrews' Diocese, Scotland, which was dated 1391, "Memorials of the Family of Wemyss", during the reign of King Robert 111, "Ruler of Scotland", 1390 - 1406. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

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