Miles Family History

English (of Norman origin): from the Middle English (Old French) personal name Mile + genitival or post-medieval excrescent -s or from its other Old French form Miles, a derivative of ancient Germanic Milo based on the element mil from mel ‘good generous’. The Old French oblique case form was Milon (see Milon). Compare Millen and Millson.

English: variant with genitival or post-medieval excrescent -s of Myhill from a vernacular form of the Biblical name Michael. Miles Coverdale, the translator of the Bible, when in Germany, called himself Michael Anglus (‘the Englishman’).

Irish (Louth and Kilkenny): when not the same as 1 or 2, it is sometimes an Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Maolmhuire (see Myles).

Jewish (eastern Ashkenazic): patronymic from the Yiddish personal name Mile, a diminutive of Yerachmiel, a variant of Biblical Yerachmel (1 Chronicles). It is formed with the Yiddish possessive -s. Americanized form of some original Jewish (Ashkenazic) surname.

German: variant of Miels, a patronymic from Miele.