Looking at its ending, stylus suggests Latin; and indeed it does come from the Latin stilus, meaning a stake or a pointed writing instrument (possibly influenced by the Greek stylos for pillar). Apparently in the early 1700s it came into English spelled stylus, to mean the stem-like part of a flower pistil, then in the next century for a tracing-point to produce a written record on a chart, like a seismograph, and then a phonographic needle.
So what then of Mr. Stiles? This is an English surname of the word stile (stemming from Old English stigel), meaning a structure that allowed people, but not livestock and other animals, to pass through a fence, wall, or hedgerow. A kind of gate, though not necessarily a hinged one. Certainly the English stile is why subway stations have turnstiles (yes, still spelled with an i). It's interesting, though probably just coincidental, that fences often use stakes (Latin stilus) or pillars (Greek stylos).
In England, Stiles was often an occupational name for a person responsible for maintaining a stile as a boundary crossing. A gatekeeper, if you will. And here I begin to think about Mr. Stiles' role in "Balance of Terror," as a person who clearly has deeply held boundaries and wants his captain and shipmates to care as much as he does about gatekeeping. We need to keep those no-good Romulan animals out of our garden or they will destroy it. Conscious inspiration for the character name, or just coincidence? I really don't know.
Six Degrees of Nonsense bonus tomfoolery
Lieutenant Stiles was played by Paul Comi,
who was in Hunter with ¹ Bill Erwin,
who was in She's Having a Baby with ² Kevin Bacon,
who was in End of the Line with ³ Barbara Barrie,
who was in The Caretakers with ⁴ Herbert Marshall,
who was in The Moon and Sixpence with ⁵ Florence Bates,
who was in On the Town with ⁶ Vera-Ellen. Vera-Ellen's character in On the Town was named Ivy Turnstiles.
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