Stanley m
English: transferred use of the surname, derived from any of numerous places (in Derbys., Durham, Gloucs., Staffs., Wilts., and Yorks.) named in Old English from stān stone + lēah wood or clearing. This is well established as a given name, and has been widely used as such since the 1880s. It had been in occasional use earlier. Its popularity seems to have stemmed at least in part from the fame of the explorer Sir Henry Morton Stanley (1841–1904), who was born in Wales as John Rowlands but later took the name of his adoptive father, a New Orleans cotton dealer.
Short form: Stan.
First names dictionary. 2012.