Miles or Myles () is a Norman French masculine given name. It might have been a changed diminutive of the name Michael that was influenced by miles, the Latin word for a soldier, because of associations with Archangel Michael, the Roman Catholic patron saint of the military. Myles is a variant spelling in English. Milo, the variant of the name used most often during the medieval era, might also have been influenced by the Slavic ending word element -mil, meaning gracious. In Ireland, the name was used as an English substitute for Irish language names such as Maolra, or Maolmhuire, both meaning devoted to Mary, Maolmhorda, meaning servant of the great, and
Maolruanaí, meaning servant of the champion. Development of the name might also have been influenced by the Persian name Mylas, meaning brave. The original name of Miles (bishop of Susa), a Persian Orthodox Christian saint, was Mylas. The name has been in regular use in the Anglosphere since the 1500s. It was popularized in England by Myles Coverdale, who produced the first complete printed translation of the Bible into English in 1535. In the United States, the name became well-known due to Myles Standish, a soldier who arrived on Plymouth Rock on the Mayflower with the Pilgrims in 1620. American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote a popular 1858 poem, The Courtship of Miles Standish, in which the fictionalized Standish is rejected by Priscilla Mullins, who chooses John Alden as her husband instead. Miles and Myles were both more commonly used in the United States than in the United Kingdom by the 1800s due to usage by Irish immigrants to the United States and the influence of Miles Standish. There was an increase in usage from the mid- to late 20th century associated with jazz instrumentalist Miles Davis and with the popularity of fictional characters such as Star Trek character Miles O'Brien, Myles Mitchell, a character on the 1990s American television series Moesha, Miles Edgeworth, a character from the Ace Attorney video game franchise, Miles Prower from the Sonic the Hedgehog video game franchise and fictional Marvel Comics superhero Miles Morales.
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People with the name
Miles (bishop of Susa) (d. c. 340)
Miles of Gloucester, 1st Earl of Hereford (d. 1143)
Miles of Plancy (d. 1174), Crusader knight
Miles de Cogan (fl. 1170s), Anglo-Norman knight
Miles de Angulo (fl. 1250s), Anglo-Irish knight
Miles of Marseilles (b. c. 1294), Jewish physician
Miles de Noyers (d. 1350), French diplomat
Miles Aiken (born 1941), American basketball player
Miles Austin (born 1984), American football player
Miles Barne (disambiguation), multiple people
Miles Battle (born 2000), American football player
Miles Joseph Berkeley (1803−1889), British botanist and clergyman
Miles Boykin (born 1996), American football player
Miles Brown (disambiguation), multiple people
Miles Browning (1897−1954), United States Navy admiral
Miles Caton (born 2005), American actor and musician
Miles Copeland (disambiguation), multiple people
Miles Dale (disambiguation), multiple people
Fictional characters
"Baby", protagonist in the film Baby Driver whose real name is Miles
Miles, a mule character in the animated movie Barnyard
Miles, a character in the animated series The Ridonculous Race
Miles, a character in the animated series Rimba Racer
Miles, a character in the animated series Angry Kid
Miles Archer, character in the novel The Maltese Falcon and its adaptations
Miles Axlerod, character and main antagonist of Cars 2
Miles Bailey, character in the British soap opera Doctors
Miles Callisto, character in the animated television series Miles from Tomorrowland
Miles Dyson, character in the film Terminator 2: Judgment Day
Miles Edgeworth, character in the Ace Attorney video game series
Miles Finch, character in the film Elf
Miles Hendon, character in the novel The Prince and the Pauper by Mark Twain and its adaptations
Miles Hollingsworth, character in the television series Degrassi: The Next Generation
M (James Bond), character in the James Bond novels whose real name is Sir Miles Messervy
