Giles as a Baby Name. Meaning and Origin of Giles

What is the meaning of the name Giles ?

The baby name Giles is a Male name , 1 syllables long and is pronounced /dʒaɪlz/ (JYLES).

Giles is English in Origin.

Giles is the English form of the medieval Latin Aegidius, ultimately from Greek Aigidios/Aigidion “young goat,” related to aegis, the protective shield of Zeus, giving associations of protection. The name spread in Western Europe through the cult of Saint Giles, a 7th–8th‑century hermit-abbot venerated in Provence and later across France and Britain. Brought to England by the Normans, Giles flourished in the Middle Ages, giving rise to many place-names and the surname Giles, but declined after the Reformation before modest 19th‑century revival; today it is familiar in Britain and rare in North America.

International variants include French Gilles and Égide, Italian Egidio, Spanish and Portuguese Gil, Dutch Gillis and Gielis, German Ägidius, Swedish Gillis, Polish Idzi, Czech Jiljí, Slovak Egid, and Lithuanian Egidijus. English spellings Gyles and Jiles occur. Nicknames include Gil and Gilly. Core meaning: “young goat,” with a traditional secondary sense of “under the aegis/protection.”