Giles
Masculine · “young goat”
Giles is a goatskin. The Greek word behind it is the one that gives English aegis, the shield of Zeus and Athena made from a goat's hide, and to be under someone's aegis is still to be under their protection two and a half thousand years later.
How old is the name Giles?
Giles was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Giles alive today was born around 1946, making them about 79 years old. About 2,200 people named Giles are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Giles most popular?
Giles peaked in 1881, reaching #360 nationally. Today it ranks #6803, 6,443 places below that high. See the whole 1881 chart.
Where it comes from
From aigidion to Giles
The story of Giles
Saint Giles was a hermit in Provence, and his legend has him wounded by a hunter's arrow meant for the deer that fed him; he became one of the most popular saints of medieval Europe, patron of cripples and beggars, with churches placed outside city walls where the poor gathered. St Giles in London and in Edinburgh both sit in that tradition. The name was among the commonest in medieval England, then faded, and it survived into modern use mainly in Britain. In American records it is a nineteenth-century name with a best year of 1881, and it has been very rare since.
Meaning
young goat, kid
From Latin Aegidius, from Greek aigidion, a young goat, a diminutive of aix, a goat. The related aigis is the goatskin shield or breastplate of Zeus and Athena, and gives English aegis. The saint's legend, in which he is fed by a hind, may have grown from the name rather than the other way round.
How the name formed
- aigidion
- Aegidius
- Gilles
- Giles
Related forms: Gilles · Egidio · Gil · Aegidius
Pronouncing Giles
JYLZ
One syllable with a soft g and a long i. French says ZHEEL; the English form has been one syllable since the Middle Ages.
Nicknames for Giles
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1880
- Most boys named
- 192280 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #360reached in 1881
- Change vs 2022
- −7.7%12 in 2025, from 13
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Giles in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Gilles in French — same name
- Egidio in Italian — same name
- Gil in Spanish — same name
- Aegidius in German — same name
Giless among us
people named Giles are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 142,340 born in 2025 was named Giles
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
Fashion outlook
Giles sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Giles beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Giles in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A settled Greek meaning and one of the most popular medieval saints behind it.
- One syllable, five letters, and no spelling difficulty.
- Related to the English word aegis, which few people realize.
- In American ears it reads as distinctly British.
- The soft g is not obvious to readers meeting the name cold.
- The literal meaning is a young goat.
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Giles
Masculine · #6803 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Giless are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 2,200 people named Giles are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Giles in 2025?
- Giles ranks #6803 among US boy names in 2025, with 12 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Giles?
- About 1 in every 142,340 US boys born in 2025 was named Giles — 12 in all.
- Will my child share the name Giles with classmates?
- Giles will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Giles
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Zeb#6803 · Buster#6803 · Fabien#6803 · Eston#6803 · Tyjuan#6803 · Fuad#6803 · Aaiden#6803 · Sanford#6803
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Giles? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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