Alston

Alston is an English language surname of Anglo-Saxon origin with several derivations. It 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 taken from the manor of a Saxon Lord called Alstanus, he 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. 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 purchased 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. 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". People with the surname include:

Surname

• Adrian Alston, Australian footballer
• Arthur Hugh Garfit Alston, botanist
• Ashanti Alston, former Black Panther
• Charles Alston, artist
• Dave Alston, Major League Baseball umpire
• Dean Alston, Australian cartoonist
• Edward Alston
• Kevin Alston, Major League Soccer Player
• Philip Alston, 18th Century counterfeiter, frontier military leader
• Rafer Alston, basketball player
• Richard Alston (choreographer)
• Tom Alston, Major League Baseball player
• Walter Alston, Hall of fame Major League Baseball player and manager
• William Alston, philosopher
• Willis Alston, United States Congressman

Given name

• Alston Scott Householder, mathematician

References

This page or section lists people with the surname Alston. If an internal link intending to refer to a specific person led you to this page, you may wish to change that link by adding the person's given name(s) to the link.