Niles
An English surname often explained as a shortened form of a place-name like Atten Nyles or Nayland, though some bearers may also descend from the given name Niles/Neil.
The #3,511 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 30,350 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The surname Niles is usually treated as a reduced or altered form of a place-based surname, especially one built from a preposition plus a local feature or settlement name. One suggestion in older surname studies links it with aphetic forms such as Nayland or with phrases like "atten Nyles," where the initial vowel element dropped away over time. In some cases, however, Niles may also be a patronymic or nickname form related to the personal name Neil/Nile, so the surname is not single-origin everywhere.
History
The name is well established in English-speaking countries and became more visible in America through ordinary immigration and later internal spread. Because the spelling is short and flexible, separate families with different origins may have converged on the same form. Modern bearers therefore may not share a single ancestral source, even when the surname looks identical.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Older surname references sometimes group Niles with other clipped place-names that lost an initial unstressed syllable, a common medieval process in English.
From the historical record
“Feltham.— Local, 'of Feltham,' a pariah in co. Middlesex, four niles from Hounslow. 1708. Uairied — lohn TMmer and Suiannah Feltham: St. Geo. Hon, 6|. il. iSi.”
— A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames, with special American instances