An English and French surname, Giles come from the Greek terms of ‘gidie’, ‘gilles’ which refer to someone of good works. The Latin form of ‘aegidius’ referred to a young goat. The Old English terms were ‘gilo’ and ‘ghilo’. The spelling variations for Giles include Gyles, Jiles, Gillette, Ilchman and Gillyns. In England the Giles family line began in Lincolnshire, along the east coast. Over the centuries the Giles families resettled to the southern English coast into Kent, Somerset, Devon, Hampshire, Surrey and Wiltshire counties. To the north the Giles families are in Yorkshire and Lancashire. In Scotland most with the Giles surname live in Aberdeenshire along the central eastern coast. Within the United States the Giles families originated in Pennsylvania, New York, Massachusetts, Virginia, Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, Illinois and Texas. Famous: William Ernest Giles (19th century explorer of Australia), Marcus William Giles (professional baseball player), Annabel Giles (an actress, novelist, comic and model from Scotland), Brian Giles (professional baseball player), Stephen Giles (champion canoeist from Canada), Michael and Peter S. Giles (musical performing group known as Giles, Giles and Fripp) and John L. Giles (yacht designer).