Stammer

Recorded as Stammar, Stammer, Stammers, Stammirs, Stammmler, and no doubt others, this is a surname of English and Germanic origins. It derives either from the personal name 'Stanmorr' composed of the elements 'stan',meaning stone and 'moer', - famous, or it was a descriptive nickname for a person who stammered. The personal name as 'Famous stone' may have related to an ancient religious temple such as 'Stone-henge' or similar. Another possibility at least in England is that it maybe habitational from a place such as Stanmer in Sussex or Stanmore in Middlesex. The meaning od these names is stoney lake. Early examples of recordings include Godefrid der Stammelere of Starkenberg in Germany, and in England Margarett Stammirs, the daughter of John Stammers, (so much for early spelling!) who was christened on the July 6th 1603, at Kingston Gorse, in the county of Sussex, and Sarah Stammer who married Matthew Draper at St Botolphs Church, Bishopgate, London, on August 5th 1629. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Widwinus Stammere, which was dated 1220, in the register of St Bartholomews Hospital, London, during the reign of King Henry 111, known as the Frenchman, circa 1216 - 1272. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was sometimes known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.