The etymology of WHETSTONE (originally spelled hwet-stan) is from the Old English words "hwet", meaning 'to sharpen' and "stan", meaning 'stone'. A whetstone is a stone used for whetting (or sharpening) tools with edges.
The toponym was adopted by Medieval English families who lived in towns called Whetstone. These towns with this name probably aquired the moniker as a place where tool-sharpening was practiced using a whetstone.
Whetstone was incorrectly spelled "Westham" in the Domesday Book (1086). Early spellings from the 12th censtury on include Whetestan, Wetstan, Whetston, Wheston.
Our Whetstone family would have originated in one of the many English towns with this name. Its important in our research to be aware of the spelling variations in this name in order to pinpoint exactly where our particular family originated.
CLEMMONS is an English spelling of the French word clement, which is a from the Latin word clemens, which means "kind, merciful, mild". Our English word clemency derives from clemens.
As a surname, it has many dozens of spelling variations: Clem, Clemm, Clemans, Clemence, Clemens, Clement, Clements, Clemons, Clemas, Climance, Climas, Clemmans, Clemmens, Clemmons, etc...
It is found early in England. In 1152, one Englishman spelled his name Clementia.
This surname has two possible etymologies, depending on the early spellings of the name. In either case, it is a toponym.
The first means "one from the town of Singleton, West Sussex, England". Here, Singleton itself means "farmstead by a burned clearing"; fromt he Old English words sengel ("singed") and tun ("farmstead", "manor", "estate", "town", etc...). This form was spelled Singulton in the Domesday Book (in the year 1086).
The second possible meaning is "one form the town of Singleton, lancashire, England". Here Singleton means "farmstead with a shingled roof". From the Old English words scingol ("shingled") and tun ("farmstead", "manor", "estate", "town", etc...). This form was spelled Sengelton in 1185.
Being a toponym, the earliest bearers of this name used the preposition "de" ("of"). i.e., in 1379, there was an Englishman listed as Adam de Syngletun ("Adam of [the town of] Singleton")
ROLEN: This is a spelling variation of Roland, also spelled Rawling and Rollin. Roland is a diminutive of Roll or Rol (Rolf), from Roland (Rowland). Roland is an English spelling of the Old German name Ruodlant, meaning one from the "famous land."
RILEY: If the family is from England the name would derive from Old English ryge and leah = "rye clearing." As an English surname it means "dweller by the clearing of rye." The English form could also come from a toponym: there are many English towns named Riley, Ryely, etc., which some families adopted as their surname. If the family is from Ireland, Riley would come from O' Reilly, written O' Raghailligh in Irish Gaelic, meaning "war-like one."
ALLEN: from the Irish Gaelic name Alain (found in Old Breton as Alan, and in Old French as Alein), meaning "charming, handsome."
BLACKWOOD (self-explanatory): from Old English blac and wode = "blackwood." As a surname it means "dweller from/by the dark woods."