Silas (name) Silas (name) Silas is a common given name and a lesser-known surname. It is a cognate of Silvanus. Silas as a name today comes from the early Christian disciple Silas. He is consistently called "Silas" in Acts, but the Latin Silvanus, which means "of the forest," is always used by Paul and in the First Epistle of Peter; it is likely that "Silvanus" is the Romanized version of the original "Silas," or that "Silas" is the Greek nickname for "Silvanus." It has been suggested that Silas is the Greek version of the Aramaic "Seila," a version of the Hebrew "Saul".
Alston (name) Alston (name) Alston is an English language surname of Anglo-Saxon origin with several derivations. It may have evolved from the Middle English given name "Alstan", the prefix, "Al-" itself derived from different Old English words ("noble", "elf", "old", "shrine", "temple"), and the suffix "-stan" ("stone") derived from pre 7th century Old English. The oldest public record of this derivation is found in 1279 in Cambridgeshire. One branch of this name may have been taken from the manor of a Saxon Lord called Alstanus, he had his manor in Stambourne, North East Essex. It is known that he was still in