Recorded as Stone, Stoner, Stones and Stoneman, this is a surname of English origins of which there are at least three. The first is locational from any of the villages called Stone in the various counties of Worcester, Kent, Hampshire and Staffordshire. The second possibility is that the name is topographic, and as such was given to someone who dwelt by a conspicuous standing stone or monument. Thirdly it may have been an occupational nickname surname for one who worked in the stone industry such as a mason or stone cutter. All three have the same source being the pre 7th century Olde English word 'stan', meaning a stone. The surname dates back to the early 12th Century, (see below) and early examples of recordings include: Robert Ston in the charters known as the Curia Regis rolls of Oxfordshire in the year 1212, and Richard de Stone in the Subsidy Rolls of Worcestershire in 1275. Early examples of church recordings include Richard Stones who married Elizabeth Quince on April 10th 1610 at St. Gregory's by St. Paul's, in the city of London, Thomas Stone, the son of Mathew and Ellin Stone, who was christened on September 8th 1622 at St. Martin Pomeroy, also in the city of London, and Maria, the daughter of Thomas and Marie Stones who was christened on April 12th 1658 at Rymarsh, in Kent. Samuel Stones, together with his wife Ann and children were Irish famine emigrants who sailed from Liverpool aboard the ship 'Carrick' bound for New York on June 1st 1846. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Walter de Stanes. This was dated 1130 a.d., in Pipe Rolls of the county of Staffordshire. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

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