Kyle

From several places in Scotland and Northern Ireland, derived from Gaelic caol (“narrows”).

• IPA^(key): /kaɪl/, /ˈkaɪ.əl/
• Rhymes: -aɪl, -aɪəl
• Homophones: chyle, kile, kyle

Kyle (countable and uncountable)

1. (countable) A habitational surname from Scottish Gaelic.
2. (countable) A unisex given name.
   1. A male given name transferred from the surname.
      • 2005, Joyce Carol Oates, Missing Mom, Ecco, →ISBN, page 110:

        Wally Szalla was the least discomforting of men, nothing like the pushy arrogant guys I was always meeting, or who were always meeting me. Guys with names like Dale, Brock, Kevin, Kyle. Guys with names nothing like Wally.

      • 2025 July 27, “California governor candidate calls Auschwitz 'solution for homelessness,' sparks critisism”, in The Jerusalem Post‎^[1]:

        The Auschwitz Memorial Museum slammed Kyle Langford, Republican candidate for Governor of California, after his antisemitic remarks, calling out his actions as a “profound moral failure.”

   2. (uncommon) A female given name transferred from the surname.
3. A placename
   1. A town in Saskatchewan, Canada.
   2. A census-designated place in South Dakota, United States.
   3. A city in Texas, United States.

• Kyle of Sutherland

• Lyke, lyke, yelk

From English Kyle, from Scottish Gaelic caol, from Middle Irish cáel, from Old Irish coíl, from Proto-Celtic *koilos (“thin”).

Kyle

1. a male given name from English [in turn from Scottish Gaelic]

For quotations using this term, see Citations:Kyle.