Alston is an English language surname with several derivations, and a male given name.

Alston
Origin
Language(s)Old English
Meaning"noble stone", "elf stone", "old stone", "shrine stone", "temple stone"
Region of originBritish Isles
Other names
Variant form(s)Allston, Alstone, Alliston, Elliston, Elystone

Origins

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The name may have evolved from the Middle English given name "Alstan", the prefix, Al- itself derived from different Old English words ("noble", "elf", "old", "shrine", "temple"), and the suffix -stan ("stone") derived from pre 7th century Old English. The oldest public record of this derivation is found in 1279 in Cambridgeshire. One branch of this name may have been taken from the manor of a Saxon Lord called Alstanus, who had his manor in Stambourne, North East Essex. It is known that he was still in possession of the manor after the Norman conquest, although as a tenant rather than owner, he held the land annexed against the King. There are a high density of families with the surname Alston and Alliston from around the Sudbury area, not far from Stambourne. In the 1224 feet of fines it is recorded that John son of Adam de Alliston sold land at Stanfeld (Stansfield) Suffolk. Stansfield is a few miles North of Stambourne. Both Stambourne and Stansfield may have taken their name from Æthelstan Half-King, Earl of East Anglia in the 930s.[citation needed]

Alston also evolved as a locational surname from villages named Alston (or Alstone) in Devonshire, Gloucestershire, Lancashire, Somerset, and Staffordshire. The oldest public records of the locational surname in these villages are from the period of 1221–1246.[1] An alternate meaning is "from the old manor". The nearest locational name to Stambourne was Alston village in Suffolk near Trimley St Martin, recorded in the Domesday Book as Alteinestuna. The original meaning may have been Stone of Fire Farm (tuna). Alteines is a Gallic word meaning "stone of fire" and is associated with sorcery. The church was consolidated to Trimley St Martin in 1362.[2]

The coat of arms containing the stars may have been taken as a variant of the coat of arms of the De Veres (Earls of Oxford) who were one of the most powerful post Norman East Anglian families and associated with early East Anglian Alstons.[citation needed]

Notable people with the name include:

Surname

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Given name

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References

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  1. ^ "Surname: Alston". surnamedb.com. Archived from the original on 3 June 2008. Retrieved 2008-05-13.
  2. ^ Druidism Exhumed. ISBN 076614979X.