Origins of the name Stockton

Origin of the place name `Stockton `

Stocton, Stoketon, c. 1200.

Stockton is an Anglo-Saxon name with the typical Anglo-Saxon place name ending 'ton' meaning farm, or homestead.

The name is thought by some to derive from the Anglo-Saxon word Stocc meaning log, tree trunk or wooden post. 'Stockton' could therefore mean a farm built of logs. This is disputed, because when the word Stocc forms the first part of a place name it usually indicates a derivation from the similar word Stoc, meaning cell, monastery or place. 'Stoc' names along with places called Stoke or Stow, usually indicate farms which belonged to a manor or religious house. It is thought that Stockton fell into this category and perhaps the name is an indication that Stockton was an outpost of Durham or Norton which were both important Anglo-Saxon centres.
This is a matter of dispute but Stockton was only a part of Norton until the eighteenth century when it became an independent parish in its own right. Today the roles have been reversed and Norton has been demoted to a part of Stockton.

There is a city in the USA ,Stockton , California [ visit website ] that has a different origin story when a certain Captain Weber decided on Stockton in honor of Commodore Robert F. Stockton. a naval officer who was responsible for driving the Mexican forces out of California in the 1840’ . Stockton was the first community in California to have an English name; every other community up to that point had been Spanish or Native American in origin.

origin of the place name stockton on tees anglo saxon

A typical Anglo-Saxon farmstead