Oates
A surname that likely began as a medieval pet form of the old name Odo, Otto, or a related short Germanic name.
The #2,940 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 25,303 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The historical sources point to Oates as a name built from a short personal name, especially Odo or Otto, with the ending suggesting a plural or family form. In other words, it probably meant something like 'the descendants of Oat/Otto.' The exact first name behind it is not completely certain, but the root is clearly Germanic rather than occupational or locational.
History
Older surname dictionaries connect Oates with forms such as Oat, Ots, Otto, Otte, and Otho. The related spellings Oats and Oates appear in English records, and the form Oats is noted as especially American in later usage. The surname is also familiar from the notorious 17th-century Titus Oates, which helped keep the name recognizable in English history.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Nineteenth-century surname writers specifically grouped Oates with the old names Otto and Otho, treating it as a nickname-like family form rather than a word about oats the grain.
From the historical record
“rent. OATES. See Oats. OCA OATS. " Oats," says Mr. Ferguson, " I take to be a pluralism, and class it with Ott, Otte, Otto, and the conesponding German names Otte and Otto." OBBARD. A corruption of the corrup- tion Hubbard.”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom