This project is dedicated to exploring the origins of those bearing the Stancil surname, including its variants Stancil, Stancill, Stancel, Stansell, Stansel, Stanshall and Stancell. Most of those in the US bearing this surname are believed to be descended from John Stansell who arrived in Virginia sometime in the late 1600's. Variants of the Stancil surname exist not only in the US and UK, but also in other English-speaking countries. As John Stancell's exact origins are unclear, we are interested in extending our project to those outside of this country in order to establish possible links to those bearing our surname abroad.