This unusual name is of Anglo - Saxon origin, and is a variant form of the locational surname 'Staining', which derives from the place so called in Lancashire. The placename is first recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as 'Staininghe', and in 1211 as 'Stanynggas', and means 'dwellers at a stone or in a stony district', derived from the Olde English pre 7th Century 'stan', meaning 'stone, stones', and the suffix 'ingas' used to indicate 'the people, tribe of' a place or a personal name. 'Staining' may therefore also mean 'the place of Steinn's people', from an Olde Norse personal name. The surname can be found as 'Staning', 'Stanning', and 'Staining'. One William Staning married Anne Nixson on the 7th September 1670 at St. Dunstan's, Stepney, in London. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Christiane Staninge, christening, which was dated 18th March 1563, at Atwick, Yorkshire, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth 1, known as Good Queen Bess, 1558 - 1603. 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.