Benstead Family History

English (East Anglia and London): habitational name sometimes from Bensted (Kent) or perhaps Bedlested (in Chelsham Surrey) but mostly from the manor of Bensted Green (a place now lost that was in Sandon Essex).

The placenames are probably all from Old English byden stede ‘place in a deep valley or hollow’ although the first element of the Kent name may alternatively be Old English bēonet ‘bent (a kind of long coarse grass)’.

Alternatively, some instances may be from Binsted (Hampshire Sussex), Binstead (Isle of Wight), or Banstead (Surrey) all meaning ‘place where beans grow’ (Old English bēan + stede).