Whiston Family History

English (North and West Midlands): habitational name from any of various places called Whiston (in Yorkshire, Lancashire, Northamptonshire, and two places in Staffordshire) or from Wiston in Sussex. The Yorkshire and Lancashire placenames derive from Old English hwīt ‘white’ + stān ‘stone’; Whiston near Cheadle (Staffordshire) has the same etymology.

Whiston near Penkridge (Staffordshire) derives from an Old English personal name Witi (genitive Wites) + Old English tūn ‘farmstead, estate’. The Northamptonshire placename derives from the Old English tribal name Hwicce (genitive Hwiccena) + tūn or perhaps from an Old English personal name Hwicca + Old English connective -ing- + tūn.

The Sussex placename derives from the Old English personal name Wīgstan (genitive Wīgstanes) + tūn. Sometimes this name is a variant of Whitestone.