Stile History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England
Ireland

The present generation of the Stile family is only the most recent to bear a name, whose roots date back to the ancient Anglo-Saxon culture of Britain. The surname is derived from the Old English "stigol," meaning "stile, steep ascent," and refers to a "dweller by the stile." 1 2 A stile is a set of steps over a stone wall or wooden fence allowing people to traverse, but prevents animals from doing so.

Early Origins of the Stile family

The surname Stile was first found in Bedfordshire (Old English: Bedanfordscir), located in Southeast-central England, formerly part of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Mercia, where the family held a family seat in early times. The earliest known bearer of the name was Reginald atte Stighel, who was recorded in the Assize Rolls of 1227. The Stile family branched to other counties at an early date, also appearing in Somerset, where William de Stile and Osmund Atthe Stihele were living in 1229 and 1234 respectively, as well as in Sussex, where William ate Stegel was recorded in the Subsidy Rolls of 1296. 3

The Hundredorum Rolls of 1273 included: Richard de la Style, Bedfordshire; John atte Stile, Oxfordshire; and Robert ate Stiele, Oxfordshire. 2

Early History of the Stile family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Stile research. Another 129 words (9 lines of text) covering the years 1500, 1543, 1575, 1603, 1624, 1656, 1659, 1679, 1702 and 1761 are included under the topic Early Stile History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Stile Spelling Variations

Sound was what guided spelling in the essentially pre-literate Middle Ages, so one person's name was often recorded under several variations during a single lifetime. Also, before the advent of the printing press and the first dictionaries, the English language was not standardized. Therefore, spelling variations were common, even among the names of the most literate people. Known variations of the Stile family name include Stiles, Styals, Styles, Style, Stoyle, Steggle, Steagall, Steggal and many more.

Early Notables of the Stile family

Notables of this surname at this time include: Sir Thomas Style, 1st Baronet of Wateringbury, Kent; and his son, Sir Thomas Style, 2nd Baronet (1624-1702) was an English politician, Member of Parliament for Kent (1656-1659.)William Style (1603-1679), was an "English legal author, eldest son of William Style...
Another 47 words (3 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Stile Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Stile family to Ireland

Some of the Stile family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt. More information about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Stile migration to the United States +

For political, religious, and economic reasons, thousands of English families boarded ships for Ireland, Canada, the America colonies, and many of smaller tropical colonies in the hope of finding better lives abroad. Although the passage on the cramped, dank ships caused many to arrive in the New World diseased and starving, those families that survived the trip often went on to make valuable contributions to those new societies to which they arrived. Early immigrants bearing the Stile surname or a spelling variation of the name include:

Stile Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

Hugh Stile, who landed in Virginia in 1647 4
Johan Stile, who arrived in Pennsylvania in 1693 4

Stile Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Martin Stile, aged 34, who landed in Missouri in 1848 4

Contemporary Notables of the name Stile (post 1700) +

Michelle Stile, American Democratic Party politician, Alternate Delegate to Democratic National Convention from Florida, 2008 5

Citations +

Smith, Eldson Coles, New Dictionary of American Family Names New York: Harper & Row, 1956. Print
Bardsley, C.W, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames: With Special American Instances. Wiltshire: Heraldry Today, 1901. Print. (ISBN 0-900455-44-6)
Reaney, P.H and R.M. Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames. London: Routledge, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-415-05737-X)
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)
The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2016, January 18) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html