Wa27 William le Wasteneys

Born: 1130 Married: 1164 Alice Acton (1134 - ) Died:

William de Wasteney's Coat of Arms, Herald's Roll 7 Sable a lion rampant argent collared gules.

and had issue: Wa26 Sir William de Wasteneys Wa26-2 Robert de Wasteneys

In the Herald's Roll we also see the name written "de Watnys" and "le Wasteneys", which are typical enough as variations of the name and may help find its origin.  The shorter form indicates that the name might have become "Whatny" during the Tudor period, and the general appearance looks to be of Anglish origin. But we see "de" indicating French or Flemish nobility, and more particularly "le" as the French definite article for "the" originally followed by a descriptive word that soon stuck as a name. So we have to look for the meaning, and "wast" as the 2nd person past form of "be", but there remains "-eneys" to be explained and "any" would mean an "anybody". Perhaps the earliest William was a good impersonator, an ancient art going back before the beginnings of speech, and certainly welcome while soldiers sat around campfires in the night before the next battle is a man who can recount the events of the day by impersonation.