Find out how popular the last name Stiles is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Stiles.

Stiles, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Stiles surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Stiles in America

Stiles is the 1689th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Stiles surname appeared 21,357 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 7 people would have the surname Stiles.

We can also compare 2010 data for Stiles to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Stiles

The surname Stiles is of English origin, derived from the Old English word "stigol," which means a "stile" or a set of steps allowing passage over a fence or wall. The name likely originated in the Middle Ages and was initially given as a descriptive surname to someone who lived near a stile, or possibly worked as a stile-maker.

The earliest known recorded spelling of the name Stiles is found in the Hundred Rolls of Lincolnshire in 1273, where it appears as "Godrich de la Stile." This suggests that the name was already in use by the 13th century.

In the famous Domesday Book of 1086, there are several references to places with names derived from the Old English word "stigol," such as Stile in Cambridgeshire and Stile in Norfolk. These place names may have influenced the development of the surname Stiles in those areas.

One of the earliest known bearers of the surname Stiles was Sir John Stiles, a prominent English judge and legal writer who lived from 1505 to 1592. He served as a Justice of the Court of Common Pleas and authored several legal treatises.

Another notable figure with the surname Stiles was Ezra Stiles (1727-1795), an American academic and theologian who served as the president of Yale College from 1778 until his death. He was a prominent figure in the American Enlightenment and a strong supporter of the American Revolution.

In the 17th century, the name Stiles was also found in the New World, with records showing individuals bearing the surname in colonial Massachusetts and Connecticut. One such individual was Robert Stiles (1612-1676), an early settler in Windsor, Connecticut, and a prominent landowner and militiaman.

Other notable figures with the surname Stiles include William Stiles (1689-1769), an English botanist and author of "The Professed Cook," one of the earliest printed cookbooks in English, and Sir John Stiles (1633-1704), an English baronet and member of Parliament.

Throughout its history, the surname Stiles has been found in various spellings, including Stile, Styl, Styll, and Stylle, reflecting the phonetic variations and regional dialects of different areas in England.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Stiles

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Stiles.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Stiles was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Stiles has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Stiles was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Stiles, please contact us.

Reference this page

We spend a lot of resources downloading, cleaning, merging, and formatting the data that is shown on the site.

If you found the data or information on this page useful in your research, please use the tool below to properly cite or reference Name Census as the source. We appreciate your support!