Stiles
A relatively uncommon masculine given name of English origin, likely a topographic descriptor.
Name Census estimates that about 833 living Americans carry the first name Stiles. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Stiles today is around 11 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Stiles births was 2024 (97 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Stiles. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Stiles with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
833
~ 1 in 411,470 Americans
Peak year
2024
97 babies that year
Average age
11
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,716
Tracked since 1913
Census
Stiles in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 539 people with the first name Stiles, which placed it at #19,554 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#19,554
National first-name rank
People counted
539
539 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
68.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Stiles
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Stiles is White at 68.1%. The next largest groups are Black (10.0%) and Two or More Races (10.0%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Stiles described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Stiles at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White68.1% · 367
- Black or African American10.0% · 54
- Two or more races10.0% · 54
- Hispanic or Latino9.1% · 49
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.5% · 8
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.3% · 7
Popularity
Stiles: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Stiles from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 10 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 358 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Stiles by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Stiles during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Stiles' live
The SSA's state-level files cover 12 states and territories. Texas, Ohio, California recorded the most babies named Stiles, while Virginia, Tennessee, Oklahoma recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 12 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Stiles
The name Stiles is an English given name with origins dating back to the Middle Ages. It is derived from the Old English word "stigel," which means "a steep path" or "a narrow passage." This word eventually evolved into the Middle English word "stile," which referred to a set of steps or a stile used to cross over a fence or wall.
In the 14th century, the name Stiles began to be used as a surname, often given to those who lived near a stile or a narrow path. Over time, it transitioned into a given name as well. The earliest recorded instance of the name Stiles being used as a first name dates back to the late 16th century.
One of the earliest known individuals with the given name Stiles was Stiles Burgh, an English politician and Member of Parliament who lived from 1592 to 1659. Another notable bearer of the name was Stiles Demerit, an English clergyman and author who lived from 1657 to 1707.
In the 18th century, Stiles emerged as a somewhat popular name in New England, particularly in Connecticut. One of the most famous individuals with the name Stiles from this era was Ezra Stiles, an American academic and philosopher who served as the president of Yale College (now Yale University) from 1778 until his death in 1795.
Another notable figure with the given name Stiles was Henry Reed Stiles, an American physician and naturalist who lived from 1832 to 1909. He is best known for his contributions to the study of parasitology and for his work on the transmission of diseases by insects.
In the 20th century, one of the most well-known individuals with the name Stiles was Stiles Albert Judson, an American baseball player who played for several teams, including the Chicago White Sox, from 1912 to 1924. He was born in 1888 and passed away in 1963.
While not as common today as it once was, the name Stiles has persisted throughout history, with its origins rooted in the Old English language and its early usage as a surname reflecting the geographic features of Medieval England.
People
Stiles + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Stiles as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with S
Other first names starting with S with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Stiles: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Stiles?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 833 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Stiles going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 411,470 US residents.
Is Stiles a common name?
We classify Stiles as "Very Rare". It ranks above 88.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 879 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Stiles most popular?
The single biggest year for Stiles was 2024, when 97 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Stiles is about 11 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Stiles in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 539 people with the name Stiles, or 0.18 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #19,554 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Stiles in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Stiles?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Stiles leans strongly male. 518 people counted with this name were male (95.9%), compared with 22 female bearers (4.1%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Stiles?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Stiles is White at 68.1%. The next largest groups are Black (10.0%) and Two or More Races (10.0%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Stiles most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Stiles in the 2020 Census, accounting for 68.1% (367 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Stiles in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Stiles a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Stiles in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Stiles still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Stiles in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Stiles can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people share the name Stiles?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.