Surname atte Stile - Meaning and Origin
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atte Stile: What does the surname atte Stile mean?
The last name atte Stile is an early English name of Anglo-Saxon origin, which is derived from two Old English words - "att" and "stigol". The word "att" roughly translates to "at or near" or, in more modern terms, "adjacent to", while the word "stigel" can be translated as "stile or pillar". Put together, the name literally means "adjacent to the stile or pillar".
Throughout the Middle Ages, the stile or pillar was a type of timber fence post used in masonry, and so the surname "atte Stile" is thought to have been used as a way of identifying individuals who lived in or near a house that was surrounded by a stile or pillar fence. This indicates that the individual may have been somewhat wealthy, since stones were expensive in medieval times and thus only the more affluent members of society could afford to have them as part of their home.
The surname "atte Stile" has been in use since at least the 14th century, and is currently primarily found in the United Kingdom. Many people today with this surname could have distant ancestors who were living near a stile or pillar fence centuries ago.
Order DNA origin analysisatte Stile: Where does the name atte Stile come from?
The surname Atte Stile is an uncommon one today, but historically it had a much wider occurrence. The name is a combination of the old English words Atte, which was a preposition meaning "at the" or "by the", and Stile, meaning "crossing". Historically, the name was associated with persons who lived by or near a stile, which was a structure used to cross fences or low walls, such as those which marked boundaries of property and other enclosed areas. Stiles were also used to provide access through hedges or fences.
Atte Stile was associated with several locations in the late Middle Ages and the Early Modern period in England. Records indicate that families using the name lived in Devon, Suffolk, Northamptonshire, Wiltshire, Essex, Westmorland, and Gloucester in the fifteenth century. In the sixteenth century, the name can be found in the records of Hampshire, Kent, Essex, Wiltshire, Gloucester, and Oxfordshire. The name appears to be most commonly associated with Devon, where records indicate that several families used variants of the name from the thirteenth to seventeenth century, including Atestile, Attestyle, and Ate Stile.
The surname Atte Stile is now uncommon, and its use is probably due to decreased rates of mobility and use of stiles and hedged limits of properties. Today it is mainly of historical interest, but may still be found in some localities in England.
Variations of the surname atte Stile
Atte Stile is an English surname derived from Old English, meaning "at the stile". It can also be spelled as Atte Style, Atte Styled, Att Stile and Att Style.
Variants of this surname may include Attstile and Attstyle. Other surnames of the same origin may include Stiles, Stileman, Stiley, Stilo and Steele. Stylianou is a related Greek surname derived from the same etymology.
In the United States, there are variants of the name such as Attehill, Attwood, Atwood and Attebury. These are likely derived from habitation surnames, where a person was identified by where they lived, such as near an atte (meaning “at the”) wood, hill, or burg (meaning “fortification”). Indeed, in some cases the suffix may have been dropped altogether, resulting in names like Wood, Hill, or Burgh.
In the United Kingdom, however, variants of the name likely come from Anglicized spellings of more traditional Gaelic, Irish and Scottish surnames. Such spellings include the Irish Athy, Aithie, and Athey, as well as Athey, Aitken, Aitkins, Aitkin, and Aikin. Similarly, there are Scottish names derived from the same etymology, such as Stalker, Style, Stileman, and Styles.
In some cases, the name may also have been adapted from French or German spellings, including Estil, Astel, Atael, and Etzel.
Famous people with the name atte Stile
- Elizabeth Atte Stile: Elizabeth Atte Stile was the wife of James Atte Stile, an Elizabethan courtier in England in the 16th century.
- Edward Atte Stile: Edward Atte Stile was an English politician who served as Sheriff of Surrey county in 1593.
- Rose Atte Stile: Rose Atte Stile was an English courtier who served as a lady-in-waiting to Anne of Denmark, the Queen of James I of England.
- Stephen Atte Stile: Stephen Atte Stile was a Member of Parliament for Banbury in the 1620s.
- Phillip Atte Stile: Phillip Atte Stile was an English landowner who held extensive properties in Cambridgeshire and part of Warwickshire.
- Martin Atte Stile: Martin Atte Stile was a London barber-surgeon active in the mid-seventeenth century.
- George Atte Stile: George Atte Stile was a composer of Anglican church music and a cousin of Stephen Atte Stile.
- Andrew Atte Stile: Andrew Atte Stile was an English bibliographer who wrote a book detailing all the early editions of books printed in English.
- William Atte Stile: William Atte Stile was a merchant from Canterbury, England who was one of the original proprietors of the East India Company.
- Hugh Atte Stile: Hugh Atte Stile was an English writer, scholar, and diplomat of the early modern period.