Tate
An old surname with multiple possible roots, most often linked to an Anglo-Saxon personal name or to the Scots name Tait.
The #467 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 4,345 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The name Tate is usually explained as coming from the Old English personal name Tata, with Tate meaning, in effect, “descendant of Tata.” Some 19th-century writers also connected it with the Scottish surname Tait, treating Tate as a later spelling or variant. In a few medieval records, the same root appears in forms like Hatte/Tate as a personal or family name, showing that the name was in use very early.
History
The surname is well attested in medieval English records, and Harrison links Tate to earlier forms such as Tait(e) and Tatham in local and family-name evidence. Lower also notes an Anglo-Saxon personal name Tata and cites early documentary forms involving Hatte/Tate. In practice, the modern surname may have arisen in more than one place and from more than one related spelling tradition, especially in England and Scotland.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Lower cites a very early record of a woman named Tate Hatte, which makes Tate part of one of the oldest surname-style naming traditions in English records.
From the historical record
“l-el, dim. suff. ; Lat. -ell-us] Gilbert Tachel.— if«n(/. Rolls. TATE, V. Tait(e. Nicholas Tate.— Hund. Rolls. TATlM'""}fo^Tatham,q.v. TATHAM(Eng.) Bel, to Tatham (Lanes), 13th cent. Tateham, tatham = Tata's (m.) or Tate's (f.) Home [v. under Tait(e, and”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)Notable people named Tate
- Andrew Tate (b. 1986)
- Sharon Tate (1943–1969)
Sourced from Wikidata; linked to their Wikipedia page.