Boyle

Boyle is also recorded as another name, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• Russian surname10 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Russia, United Kingdom, Ukraine

  Languages: Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian

  Also written Бойл, Boel, Boil, Боил

62 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Boyle is also recorded in 5 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• In English, O Baoighill, possibly 'having profitable pledges'; leading sept in Donegal, with lands in Co. Derry and a castle at Desart, Co. Armagh

  as a name·Irish family names

• In English, perhaps from Boyville, Boeville (Seine-Maritime); first attested John Boyle 1340–1450 GildC. Also from Boyle in Ayr or Wigtown; in Ireland origin uncertain.

  as a name·A Dictionary of English Surnames

• In English, Distinct from Irish Boyle; from Norman French Boyville (Beauville). David de Boiuil is noted in a charter of 1164–1174; later reduced to Boyll, then Boyle.

  as a name·Scottish Surnames

• In English, John Boyle 1340–1450 GildC; William Boyle 1378 LoCh; Robert Boyll 1545 SRW. Perhaps from Boyville, Boeville (Seine-Maritime). In the 17th century used as a christian name: Boyle, Boyell Hall 1642 PrD. In Scotland from Boyle (Ayr, Wigtown). It is also a common Irish name, the derivation of which is uncertain. v. MacLysaght.

  as a name·A Dictionary of English Surnames

• The Scottish surname is distinct from Irish Boyle, deriving from Norman French Boyville (Beauville). David de Boiuil is noted in a charter between 1164 and 1174. Boyville by 1632 had been reduced to Boyll, then Boyle.

  as a name·Scottish Surnames

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

• Robert Boyleb. 1627GBAnglo-Irish natural philosopher, chemist, physicist, and inventor
• Danny Boyleb. 1956GBEnglish filmmaker
• Chris Cornellb. 1964USnot in their usual nameAmerican musician (1964–2017)

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

36 registers and reference works attest this spelling, across 23 countries.

Register rows as of the 2026-10-09 data build.

What does the name Boyle mean, and where does it come from?

(i) from Irish Gaelic O Baoithghill, ‘descendant of Baoithghill’, a personal name perhaps meaning ‘rash pledge’; (ii) person from Boyville, northern France (‘Boio’s settlement’) Recorded by Encyclopedia of surnames [the complete companion to tracing your names history].

Which countries have the most people with the surname Boyle?

In the United States, the national register counted about 40 thousand people named Boyle, more than in any other country we hold, where it is most often spelled boyle. After it come United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and Ireland; the country table on this page ranks them.

How common is the name Boyle?

In the United States, the national register counted 39,921 people named Boyle in 2010, about 1 in 8.3 thousand residents.

How common is Boyle compared with other names?

In the United States, Boyle is the 685th most common surname of 6,282,806 surnames recorded there.