Given name & surname · also Late Latin
Giles
“resembling a young goal”
Giles is used as a given name and a surname. One Greek interpretation is “resembling a young goal.”
Original GreekΑιγίδιος
Meaning & origin
What it means
One Greek interpretation is “resembling a young goal.”
Where it comes from
This spelling has been associated with Late Latin and Greek naming traditions.
How it developed
From Latin Aegīdius, from Ancient Greek Αἰγίδιος.
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
The story
Giles was in use during the Middle Ages.
Giles through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 4,732
- 4,732 boys · 0 girls
- Most popular year
- 1918
- 86 babies
- 2025
- 12
- #6,932 for boys
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- −28%
- Easing
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 12 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 6,932 among boys’ names. Average annual use for boys was 27.6% lower in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. Its largest published annual count for boys was 86 in 1918. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 2,406 as a first name in 2020; 39,371 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Giles’s family of names
In English usage, Giles has a diminutive in Gill. Giles shares a linguistic root with Gil. In English usage, Giles has a conventional equivalent in the French form Gilles.
Inner ring: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Around the world
Giles has relatives in 14 languages. Lines run from its Ancient Greek roots to each of them.
18 related names in 14 languages. Point at a dot, or tab to the map and use the arrow keys.
Nicknames & forms 14
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Across languages 22
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
See also 1
Names our sources mention alongside this one. They are related in story or meaning, not forms of this name.
People named Giles
- Lytton StracheyEnglish writer (1880–1932)
- Giles BarnesEnglish-Jamaican footballerborn 1988
- Tim SeverinBritish explorer, historian, writer (1940-2020)
- Giles Gilbert ScottEnglish architect (1880–1960)
- Giles ScottBritish sailorborn 1987
- Giles MartinEnglish record producer, songwriter, composer and multi-instrumentalistborn 1969
- Giles MiltonBritish writer and historianborn 1966
- Giles FarnabyEnglish composer1563–1640
- Giles CoreyExecuted in the Salem witch trials1611–1692
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love Giles, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
Regis
“a kingly or regal man”
>99% boys
Buster
“pockmark, boil”
>99% boys
Gaetano
“a man from Gaeta”
>99% boys
Isidore
“a gift of Isis”
>99% boys
Morris
“a dark-skinned man; Moorish”
>99% boys
Rufus
“red(-haired )” · “a red-haired man”
>99% boys
Horace
“the keeper of time”
>99% boys
Cleon
“a well-known man”
>99% boys