Boyles
A surname that likely began as a variant of Boyle, especially in Scottish and Irish family lines.
The #3,236 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 27,675 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Boyles is usually treated as a pluralized or variant spelling of Boyle rather than a wholly separate origin. The old sources link it to forms such as Buelles, Botlk, or Boyvil, showing how medieval spellings could shift widely before surnames stabilized. In practice, Boyles most often reflects the same family-name stream as Boyle, especially in Scottish and Irish contexts.
History
The excerpts associate Boyles with old Scottish families, including the Boyles of Kelburn and related lines in Annandale and Ayrshire. From that kind of regional usage, the name later appears in Ireland and then in English-speaking countries more broadly. Some major Boyle families went on to hold titles such as the earls of Cork, Ossory, and Glasgow, which helped keep the surname visible in records.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
A 19th-century genealogical source explicitly treats Boyles as a variant form of Boyle and connects it to several prominent Scottish aristocratic lines.
From the historical record
“JVjuvc-Ie, his uncle (lb.). The Earls of Gla.=gow of this line have adopted the arms of the English Boyles, as arms of atTection, in addition to their own. Boyles, for Buelles or Botlk.”
— The Norman People and their existing descendants in the British dominions and the United States