Stanley
/ˈstæn.li/noun
A surname and given name, originally from a place name meaning a stony or rocky clearing.
Did you know?Stanley began as an Old English place name, so every Stanley carries a tiny fossil of landscape in the name itself.
Etymological Timeline
Old English
OE
stān
“stone, rock”
Old English
OE
lēah
“wood, clearing, meadow”
Old English
OE
Stānlēah
“stony clearing or clearing among stones”
Middle English
ME
Stanley
“surname and place name derived from a location”
Modern English
EN
Stanley
“a common surname and given name”