The English surname Yates is derived from the Middle English term yates meaning “gates”, plural of yate, Old English geat ‘gate’, hence a topographic name for someone who lived near the gates of a walled town, or a metonymic occupational name for a gatekeeper. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Hereward de Jette, which was dated 1198, in the "Pipe Rolls of Gloucestershire." Edwarde Yates who married Jane Atkinson at Thirsk, Yorkshire, on September 13th 1583, Lawrence Yate of Nether Darwen, Cheshire in 1606, and John Yeats, who married Ann Davis at St Georges Chapel, Hanover Square, London in 1753. 'Mr Yates' is recorded in the records of 'Elizabeth Cittie, Virginea' in February 1624, making him one of the earliest settlers to the American Colonies. Today there are approximately 62,000 bearers of the name Yates in the US. 

YATES ENGRAVED FAMILY CREST RING