GILES tribes around the world

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GILES Family History

This interesting surname is of Pre Christian, Ancient Greek origin. It is a short form of "Aegidius", meaning "a wearer of the goatskin", a refernce to a holy man, or somebody who did good works. St. Giles (originally Aegidius) left Greece to become a hermit in France, and was only discovered when the hind from whose milk he lived, was pursued to his hermitage by a royal hunting party. It is said that his Greek name was turned into Gidie, then to Gide, and finally became Gilles, the usual French form. St. Giles is regarded as the patron of beggars and cripples; hence the London church of St...

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Tell us about any famous GILES (or surname variant) you think we should add here. We will get our genealogists to check them out and add them to the list. Thanks!