English Place-name Society

Survey of English Place-Names

A county-by-county guide to the linguistic origins of England’s place-names – a project of the English Place-Name Society, founded 1923.

Staines

Major Settlement in the Parish of Staines

Historical Forms

  • Stána 969 Crawford c.1100
  • Stana 969 BCS1264 13th BM 1066
  • (æt) Stane 1009 ASC c.1050 ASC 1009 c.1150
  • (into) Stane 1066 KCD855 13th
  • Stanes 1086 DB 1593 N
  • Stanis 1167 P
  • Stanys 1428 FA
  • Steynys, Staynys 1535 VE
  • Staines 1578 FF

Etymology

'Stone,' v. stan . The reference is generally held to be to a Roman milestone near by, Staines being on or near the site of the Romano-British station Pontes where the London-Silchester road crossed the Thames. The development of the name is quite irregular. Stan should have become Stone and the change from singular to plural is also unexplained. For the vowel cf. Stains Fd infra 211 and Staine Hundred (C), DBStanes .