Recorded in a number of associated spellings including: Stanger, Stangay, Stango, and Stangoe, this is an English surname. It is believed to have at least two possible origins. In the north of England, particularly in the counties of Yorkshire, Durham and Northumberland, the name is of Norse-Viking origins, and dates from the 8th Century settlements of the Scandinavian invaders. The derivation is from the Norse word "stang", meaning a boundary marker, and hence as a surname it describes somebody who lived at such a place. This may well originally have been the village of Stanghow in North Yorkshire. This placename translates as the boundary marker on the hill. In the south of England, the name derives from the Olde English pre 7th Century "stan", meaning stone or stony, and "gara", a gore or triangular piece of land. Early examples of the surname recording include: Ellen Stanger and William Alen, who married on January 19th 1544 at St. Margaret's church, Westminster, whilst in 1568, Gawen Stanger was a student at Oxford University. Other recordings include Thomas Stangoe, whose daughetr Margaret was christened at Lythe in Yorkshire on February 22nd 1655, whilst Robert Stango was a witness at Whitby, also in Yorkshire, on October 9th 1761. The first recorded spelling of the family name is believed to be that of Jordan de Stangar. This was dated 1327, in the Subsidy Rolls of the county of Somerset. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.