Stanley

Stanley is an English given name transferred from the surname, which derives from any of several place names in England meaning stony clearing or stony field in Old English, from stan meaning stone and leah meaning woodland clearing. It rose to prominence as a given name during the nineteenth century, partly through admiration for the Welsh-American explorer Henry Morton Stanley, famous for his expedition to find David Livingstone in Africa. The name enjoyed widespread popularity in English-speaking countries through much of the twentieth century. Stan is the common short form, and the surname itself is shared with the place name Stanley.