Latin miles, "soldier", though the Germanic root is disputed — soldier; merciful. Miles Davis made it a jazz name; Miles Standish made it a Pilgrim one.
Miles ranks 44th among American boys in 2025, with 6,085 born that year. Its best year was 2024, when 6,655 babies were given the name, ranking 37th. The typical living American called Miles is about 12 years old today. It is relatively most common in Wyoming, where it accounts for 0.63% of births.
Source: US Social Security Administration, national and state name files, 2025 release, and the Office for National Statistics for England and Wales. Etymology researched and written by our editors. Living-population and median-age figures are our own estimates, described in the methodology.