Steppingley
Major Settlement in the Parish of Steppingley
Historical Forms
- Stepigelai 1086 DB
- Stepingelea 1167 P
- Stepingele(gh) 13th Dunst 1202 Ass 1220 LS 1276 Ass 1302 Cl
- Steppingele(gh) 13th Dunst 1202,1227 Ass
- Stepyngle, Stepingle 13th Dunst 1202 Ass 1227 1276 Ass 1284 FA 1287 Ass 1316,1346 FA 1390–2 CS 1433 ADvi
- Stebbingele(gh) 1214 FF 1227 Ass
- Stebbingle 1240 Ass
- Steppingle 1242 Fees867 1323 Cl
- Stypingle 1405 Inqaqd
Etymology
This must be from OE Stēapinga -lēage , v. leah . There is evidence for an OE pers. name Stēapa , the name being found in an abstract of a late 10th cent. document entered in the Liber Eliensis , a source which supplies good forms of other rare pers. names. This would explain Steeping (L). There is however an alternative possibility. Steppingley is on a well- marked hill. An OE Stēapingas , 'people on the slope,' is a possibility. The OE adj. stēap may have early been used as a substantive in p.n. (cf. Steep (Ha), which goes back at least to the 13th cent.) and an -ingas formation even from the adj. direct is not impossible.