Stiles is an English surname, a variant of Styles. Both surnames originated as a locational name for someone who lived near a steep hill, deriving from the Old English word stigel meaning "stile, set of steps."The name likely referred to a person who lived by a prominent stile—a set of steps over a fence or wall—or on a hillside with stepping stones. Over time, the spelling evolved into regional forms, with Styles remaining more common in some areas and Stiles elsewhere. The surname is most frequently found in England and later spread to other English-speaking countries through migration.Notable bearers of the surname Stiles include Ezra Stiles (1727–1795), an American academic and president of Yale College, and Nobel Prize–winning songwriter Dan Styles (born Kelley). The name also gained pop-culture prominence through the character Stiles Stilinski from the TV series Teen Wolf.Today, Stiles functions primarily as a surname but has occasionally been adopted as a given name, though this remains rare.