Show ContentsIles History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

The Iles name has descended through the generations from the ancient Anglo-Saxon culture. Their name comes from having lived on an island. The surname Iles is derived from the Old French word isle, which means island and has become the modern French word île. The surname Iles belongs to the class of topographic surnames, which were given to people who resided near physical features such as hills, streams, churches, or types of trees. However, the name Iles may also be a patronymic surname derived from the Anglo-Saxon personal names Æl or Æthel.

Early Origins of the Iles family

The surname Iles was first found in Somerset where they held a family seat from very ancient times, some say well before the Norman Conquest and the arrival of Duke William at Hastings in 1066 A.D.

Early History of the Iles family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Iles research. Another 220 words (16 lines of text) covering the years 1320, 1338, 1679, 1683, 1688, 1703, 1713, 1715, 1716, 1721, 1727, 1734, 1735 and 1745 are included under the topic Early Iles History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Iles Spelling Variations

Only recently has spelling become standardized in the English language. As the English language evolved in the Middle Ages, the spelling of names changed also. The name Iles has undergone many spelling variations, including Eyles, Eeles, Eels, Eylers and others.

Early Notables of the Iles family

Notables of the family at this time include Sir John Eyles, Lord Mayor of London; John Eyles (died 1703), of Great St. Helens, London and Southbroom, near Devizes, Wiltshire, an English politician, Member of the Parliament for Devizes in 1679; Sir Francis Eyles, 1st Baronet (died 1716), Governor of the Bank of England; and his son, Sir John Eyles, 2nd Baronet (1683-1745) of Gidea Hall, Essex, a British financier. He served as a director of the Bank of...
Another 77 words (6 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Iles Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Iles Ranking

In the United States, the name Iles is the 10,058th most popular surname with an estimated 2,487 people with that name. 1


United States Iles migration to the United States +

To escape the unstable social climate in England of this time, many families boarded ships for the New World with the hope of finding land, opportunity, and greater religious and political freedom. Although the voyages were expensive, crowded, and difficult, those families that arrived often found greater opportunities and freedoms than they could have experienced at home. Many of those families went on to make significant contributions to the rapidly developing colonies in which they settled. Early North American records indicate many people bearing the name Iles were among those contributors:

Iles Settlers in United States in the 17th Century
  • Timothy Iles, who landed in New England in 1661 2
Iles Settlers in United States in the 20th Century
  • Mr. George Iles, (b. 1868), aged 32, Cornish miner travelling aboard the ship "New York" arriving at Ellis Island, New York on 15th April 1900 en route to Red Jacket, Michigan, USA 3

Canada Iles migration to Canada +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Iles Settlers in Canada in the 18th Century
  • Samuel Iles, who landed in Nova Scotia in 1750
  • Thomas Iles, who arrived in Nova Scotia in 1750

Australia Iles migration to Australia +

Emigration to Australia followed the First Fleets of convicts, tradespeople and early settlers. Early immigrants include:

Iles Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century
  • John Iles, English convict from Somerset, who was transported aboard the "Asia" on July 29th, 1823, settling in Van Diemen's Land, Australia 4
  • Mr. James Iles, English convict who was convicted in Gloucester, Gloucestershire, England for 7 years, transported aboard the "Elphinstone" on 20th January 1836, arriving in Tasmania (Van Diemen's Land) 5

West Indies Iles migration to West Indies +

The British first settled the British West Indies around 1604. They made many attempts but failed in some to establish settlements on the Islands including Saint Lucia and Grenada. By 1627 they had managed to establish settlements on St. Kitts (St. Christopher) and Barbados, but by 1641 the Spanish had moved in and destroyed some of these including those at Providence Island. The British continued to expand the settlements including setting the First Federation in the British West Indies by 1674; some of the islands include Barbados, Bermuda, Cayman Island, Turks and Caicos, Jamaica and Belize then known as British Honduras. By the 1960's many of the islands became independent after the West Indies Federation which existed from 1958 to 1962 failed due to internal political conflicts. After this a number of Eastern Caribbean islands formed a free association. 6
Iles Settlers in West Indies in the 17th Century
  • Mr. Henry Iles, (b. 1617), aged 17, British settler travelling from London, UK arriving in St Christopher (St. Kitts) on 5th January 1634 2

Contemporary Notables of the name Iles (post 1700) +

  • Alexander "Alex" Iles, American musician
  • Andy Iles (b. 1992), American ice hockey goaltender
  • Brian Iles, American animation director, known for his work on directing several episodes of the animated TV series Family Guy
  • Greg Iles (b. 1960), German-born, American novelist who lives in Mississippi
  • Edna Amy Iles (1905-2003), English pianist
  • Nikki Iles (b. 1963), English jazz composer and musician
  • Salim Iles (b. 1975), Algerian twelve-time gold medalist swimmer, Algerian Sportsman of the Year in 1998
  • Sam Iles (b. 1987), Australian rules footballer

HMS Prince of Wales
  • Mr. Rex George Iles, British Stoker 2nd Class, who sailed into battle on the HMS Prince of Wales (1941) and died in the sinking 7


  1. "What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
  2. Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)
  3. Cornwall Online Parish Clerks. (Retrieved 3rd May 2018). Retrieved from http://www.opc-cornwall.org/Resc/pdfs/emigration_ellis_island_1892_on.pdf
  4. State Library of Queensland. (Retrieved 2016, October 27) Asia 1 voyage to Van Diemen's Land, Australia in 1823 with 151 passengers. Retrieved from http://www.convictrecords.com.au/ships/asia/1823
  5. Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 16th March 2022). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/elphinstone
  6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_West_Indies
  7. HMS Prince of Wales Crew members. (Retrieved 2014, April 9) . Retrieved from http://www.forcez-survivors.org.uk/biographies/listprincecrew.html


Houseofnames.com on Facebook