Recorded in several forms including Stanner, Stannah, Stenner, and the plural forms Stanners, Stannas, Stannis, Stannus, Stenners and Stennes, this is an English surname. There are a number of possible origins. Firstly it may be locational from a place called Stanhoe in the county of Norfolk, the derivation being from the Old English pre 7th century words "stan" meaning stone, plus "hoh", a ridge. A second possible origin is as a slang form of "stone house", to mean the dweller at the stone house, of which there are a number of villages so named. An early example is Robert de Stanhus of Northumberland in 1275. The third option is from the descriptive word "Stannary", itself a Latin word in origin. This was used to describe an area of land, where mining took place, a stanner or stamper, being one who worked the mines. From medieval times it was particularly associated with the stannary towns of West Devon and Cornwall, although these do not seem to be a source of the surname, as the term was in use in other parts of the British Isles as far back as Roman times. Early examples of the surname recording include those of Kateryne Stanner who married Robert Sayer on November 23rd 1540, at St. Pancras church, Soper Lane, city of London, Thomas Stenner who married Parnell Blackborne on January 26th 1612, at the church of St. Mary's in the Marsh, Norwich, Norfolk, whilst Margaret Stennes married Anthony Kough at St. Anne Soho, Westminster, on February 16th 1790. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Nicholas de Stanhoe. This was dated 1146, in the records known as the Social Structure of Medieval East Anglia", during the reign of King Stephen, 1134 - 1154. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

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