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The name Lyle is of Norman French origin, meaning "the island" - L'ile. The Normans were not really French but were Scandinavian. The French had given them lands in France, "Normandy", basically to stop them being a pest with their continual raiding and in hopes they would settle. In 1066 the Normans invaded and conquered England. Not only did the Normans invade England, but they penetrated Scotland as well, founding many of the noble families of Scotland. King Robert the Bruce who successfully fought off an English army at Bannockburn established the independent Scottish state was of Norman descent. So were the Stewarts, future kings of Scotland, and the Lyles. They had a castle at Stoneypath, near the village of Garvald in East Lothian, not far from Edinburgh, the royal capital. The Lyles seem to have fallen from favour in the 1600's and lost their lands and possibly their rank.There are concentrations of Lyles in and around Edinburgh and Midlothian, and also in the Strathclyde area near Glasgow. The Lyles appear to be Lowland Scots rather than Highlanders. |
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Another bit of information linking the variants of the spellings back to the root - previous to the name being "L'Isle" it was frequently "D'Insula", which means the same thing - change seems to have occurred around 1200 / 1300AD. Hopefully, I will soon have more information on these early origins of the family tracing the name to Robert de Insula who was rewarded with lands in Wales by William the Conqueror.
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The above information was contributed by a LYLE researcher. If you have similar types of history or origins on our surnames please send an email to:LYLESSRC@YAHOO.COM
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