Giles

Possibly derived from Latin "aegis", meaning "shield, defense", which was in turn derived from a Greek word meaning "goat skin", referring to shields made of the material. In this case, the name could be interpreted as "protection" or "protecting".

---

A case has also been made for the original root word being Greek "gylios", a kind of military bag for carrying supplies, but this is extremely unlikely.

Far better to be a young goat than an old goat! In spite of the meaning I like the name Giles (pronounced with the J sound). It is a good solid English name.