Yates
Coat of Arms ~ Family Crests
~ Family Surname Origin ~
Yates Family
Name History
The English
surname Yates is local in origin, being derived from the place where a man once
lived or held land. In this instance,
the surname is derived from the Old English
word "geat" meaning "gate" which became "yate" in Middle English and the surname would signify
simply "dweller by the gate" or "gate-keeper".
The placename Yate exists in
Gloucestershire and would indicate that the original bearer of the surname
probably came from here in early times. Early references to the placename Yate date back to the
eleventh century where Yate is recorded in the
Domesday Book of 1086.
Yate, along with Henbury, Redwick and Stoke were
part of the same manor in Brentry Hundred. "In
them are nine ploughs in lordship; twenty seven villagers and twenty two
smallholders with twenty six ploughs.
Twenty male and two female slaves and twenty freedmen with ten ploughs. A mill at 20d".
Some early
instances of the surname include Phillip Del Yate who
was mentioned in the "Assize Rolls" for
One Thomas
Yates, aged twenty-three, a linen Draper from London, sailed aboard the ship
"Adventurer" to Maryland "on business" from the Port of
London in April, 1774.
In the
"London Commercial and Court Directory" of 1870 there are
thirty-seven instances of the surname.
Variants of the surname include Yeats, Yeates
and Yate.
A notable
bearer of the surname Yeats was William Butler Yeats (1865-1939), the famous
poet who was also a Nobel Prize winner.
* * * * * *
Blazon of Arms
Azure on a fesse
between two gates in chief or, and
as many swords
saltireways in base proper three goats'
heads erased
sable.
Crest
A goats head
erased argent
guttee De larmes pierced
through the
neck fessewise
with a sword
point to the
Dexter proper.
Motto
Pro rege et patria.
Translation
For King and
county.
The family name
Yates is a corruption of the English word "gates(s). The
final s' may indicate more than one gate, according to the American
Genealogical Research Institute.
Yates(s) can be found in medievel records in the form
of "atte Yate",
and
"de lat Yate". The prepositions were
appended to signify the dwelling place
or occupation of the name bearer. The gatekeeper at a castle or manor was a
trusted servant.
Early English records show forms of the Yates name as follows:
William atte Yate
-
Adam atte Yate
- Yorkshire Poll Tax (1379).
Laurence Yates of
The surname Yates is most abundant in
found in the English counties of Buckinghanshire,
Staffordshire and
Yeats. Yate and Yates appears to be the English
version and pronunciation
while Yett and Yeats being the Scottish version.
By the time the first
settled in this country. Most lived in
Carolina
Yates, Alabama - Yatesville, Ct - Yatesville, Ga
Yates City, Illinois - Yates Center, Kansas
Yatesville, Kky -
Yates Co, NY - Gates Co, NC
- Yatesboro, Penn - Yatesville,
Penn
The Yates coat of arms is described as follows:
ARMS: Per fess embattled argent and sable three gates counterchanged. (On a
shield divided by a horizontal embattled line, the top half silver and the
bottom half black, three gates, each the color of the opposite half).
CREST: A demi Lion rampant azure. (The top half of a
standing blue lion)
© Deborah
Lunsford Yates, 2000 - 2002
Last
Updated Tuesday, May 07, 2002, 8:52:02 PM CST