Stainton - Skinn

Doubled barrelled names were essentially introduced by the Victorians to increase identification. Like the early English and Anglo Saxon compound names such as "Herbert" originally "Herri-Bert" and translating as "Army-Famous", the two elements have individual meanings but not when co-joined. Later the elements became "Slurred" together to form the medieval personal and Surname. In the case of Stainton, this is a locational name from one of the parishes in Lincoln, Cumberland, Durham and Yorkshire. The name means "the dweller at the stony (steinn - Old Norse) Farm (Tun-Old English)" as, whilst Skinn is a metonymic job description for a dealer in furs and sheepskins, which again is from Olde Norse-Viking pre 8th Century "Skinn". The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Cecilia Skynn. which was dated 1301, The Yorkshire Pipe Rolls. during the reign of King Edward I, The Hammer of the Scots, 1272 - 1307. 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.