Kent Surnames: Poile
The Poile surname appears to originate on the Kent/Sussex border.
Variant names
The registered variants of the name are Poiles, Poyle, Poyl and Poil, all of which have appeared during my initial research into BMD and Ancestry records in the UK.
The variant Poyl appears to the earliest recorded spelling of the name, which then tends to disappear, being replaced by Poile.
The variant Paile appears in the 1860s in Tenterden, Kent and then disappears - a suspected deviant. However, the surname Paile does exist, although appears unconnected - at present.
There is a variant Poilé in the United States, although with only one bearer.
Name origin
According to the Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain and Ireland (by Hanks, Coates and McClure) Poile/Poyle are listed as variants of PULLEY.
The dictionary provides two suggestions for origins:
Italian, ethnic name from English Poille, Poyle, Apuelle, which are representations of Apulia, Italy, denoting someone from there
Locative, from Pulley, Shrophire
The Poile surname is alternatively considered to be a locative one, ie. it is derived from a place name. Online surname databases claim the origin of the name to be the village of Poyle, now a locality at the western end of Heathrow Airport.
The place name Poyle is derived from Olde English 'Pol' meaning pond, pool, deep river or stream. For this name origin to be correct, it would mean an individual or individuals from Poyle, moving to the common locality of the name at the Kent/Sussex border and thereafter being identified by their birthplace.
Other suggestions for the surname origin is that it is French, which is plausible given the locality in which is found - Kent/Sussex border and within close proximity to Rye on the south coast, from where much trade with France occurred.
Poil is French for hair or bristle, which leads to the suggestion the surname is derived from a trade, perhaps the making of brushes.
Historical occurences
William Poyle, 1574, in Brenchley, Kent; Moises Poile, 1599, in Marden, Kent; Thomas Poille, 1781, in Tenterden, Kent.
The following Poile's who have achieved prominence:
Bud Poile (1924-2005) is a famous Canadian ice hockey player, as was his brother Don Poile and his son David Poile (see below)
Craig Poile (1967- ) is a Canadian poet, who won the Archibald Lampman Award in 2010 for his collection True Concessions.
David Poile (1950- ) is a Canadian-American retired ice hockey executive and former player, and son of Bud Poile (above)
Frequency & Distribution
The Poile surname is considered an unusual name.
An online study calculated that approximately 490 people bear this surname making it the 624,505th most common surname in the world, held by approximately 1 in 14,842,252 people. Poile is most frequently used in England, where it is borne by 211 people, or 1 in 264,067. (source: forebears.io).
The variant Poil is calculated to be borne by 310 people in the world, predominantly in France and England, plus people in India, United States, Qater, Ireland.
The variant Poyle is calculated to be borne by 150 people in world, predominantly in the United States, plus England and New Caledonia.
The variant Poyl is calculated to be borne by 3 people in the world, in Thailand.
Another source calculates that 129 people with the Poile surname existed in 1881, and 148 as recently as 2016 in England (source: Consumer Data Research Centre).
The name is most prevalent in England, but also present in significant numbers in United States, Australia and Canada.
There are also Poile's recorded in Papua New Guinea, France, India, Columbia, Phlippines, Botswana, Brazil, Italy, South Korea and Wales (source: forebears.io).
The variant Poil is currently found predominantly in France and England, plus people in India, United States, Qater, Ireland.
The variant Poyle is currently found predominantly in the United States, plus England and New Caledonia.
The variant Poyl is currently found in Thailand.
Another source calculates that the Poile surname in England is concentrated in east London and Sussex/Kent border in 1881, and the east London and Kent areas in 2016 (source: Consumer Data Research Centre).
External website links
One Name Study: https://poile.one-name.net/
Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/poilefamilies
Wikipedia Page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poile_(surname)
Have information about the surname?
Contact Steve Poile, the Poile One Name Study author - poile@one-name.org
Or find Poile surname interest researchers in the Kent FHS Members Interest database.
Stories
The following stories and articles have been published by Kent Family History Society about the Poile surname:
KFHS Website, Archive and Journal
The following searches for Poile can be undertaken on Kent FHS resources:
Website by Beachshore