English
The surname Stoneman is of English origin.The name is derived from the Old English 'stan' stone.It is most commonly a topographical name for someone who lived either on stony ground or by a notable outcrop of rock or a stone boundary-marker or monument.It could also be an occupational name for someone who worked in stone,a mason or stonecutter.The surname may also be a habitational one derived from the many places so named in England,such as:Stone in Kent and Somerset.Jewish people have also used the name as an anglicization of like sounding Hebrew surnames.The name dates back to the twelfth century were a Robert Ston is recorded in historical archives.The name was brought to England by English immigrants.A bearer of this name was a signatory of the Declaration of Independance,a Thomas Stone.He was born into a prosperous family at Poynton Manor,Maryland.He was a descendant of William Stone,who had emigrated to Virginia from Northants in England around 1628 and later became governor of Maryland.One of the most famous American film makers of the twentieth century bears this name Oliver Stone.One of the first fore fathers to bring this name to America is that of a Deacon Gregory Stone,who came to America in 1635;he settled in New England.This name is the one hundredth and twenty-ninth most common surname in America.