Staton

Recorded as Staton, Staten, Statten and Statton, this is an English locational surname. It is a transposition of Statham, a place in the county of Cheshire, so called from the pre 7th century word 'stoed' meaning a landing area, and 'ham', a place. Such locational names were originally given either to the local lord of the manor and his or sometimes her, descendants, or more usually to inhabitants who for wahtever reason moved from their place of origin and were thereafter called after this place, as an easy means of identification. Spelling being at best erratic and local dialects very thick, soon lead to the creation of "sounds like" spellings. It is generally accepted that the further away a person moved from the original homestead, the more the spelling was corrupted. An interesting recording is that of Patrick Staton, who on June 15th 1846 embarked from the city of Liverpool on a ship of the same name, bound for America where he probably landed at Staten Island. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of John de Statum of Cambridge in the Hundred Rolls of Land owners of that county in 1273. This was in the first year of the reign of King Edward 1st 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.