# Bates (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/bates/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. Counts from the US Census Bureau; origin and etymology from Wiktionary; bearers from Wikidata. Data updated 2026-11-11.

A surname originating as a patronymic.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | not recorded |
| Type | patronymic, formed from a father’s (or ancestor’s) given name |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 95,622 |
| US rank (2010) | 325 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 3,229 people |
| Change since 2000 | +2.0% (93,743 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | /beɪts/, 1 syllable |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |

## Etymology

A patronymic surname that is derived from Batte, a medieval form of the male given name Bartholomew + -s (denoting "son of") hence meaning "son of Bartholomew".

## Who carries it

Share of people named Bates in the 2010 US Census by the Census's own race and ethnicity groups. The Census suppresses a share when the count behind it is small.

| Group | Share |
|---|---|
| White (not Hispanic) | 75% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 19% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 2.4% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.6% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.8% |
| Two or more races | 2.0% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Bates in the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom.

## People named Bates

- Kathy Bates, American film actress and director
- Tyler Bates, American musician, music producer, film score composer
- Katharine Lee Bates, American poet and songwriter (1859-1929)
- Barbara Bates, American actress (1925–1969)
- Evan Bates, American ice dancer
- William Bates, American ophthalmologist (1860-1931)
- Ken Bates, British businessman (1931-2026)
- Jeanne Bates, American actress (1918-2007)
- Florence Bates, American actress; lawyer (1888–1954)
- George Latimer Bates, American naturalist (1863-1940)
- Edward Bates, American politician, lawyer and judge (1793-1869)
- Daisy Bates, American civil rights activist (1914–1999)

and 24 more on Wikidata.

## Similar surnames

Batts, Batz, Butts, Betts, Betz, Bettis, Botts, Butz, Boots, Bethke, Budge, Beets.

## How to read these numbers

A Census count is people alive and counted in 2010, not births, and names occurring fewer than 100 times are not published at all. Ethnicity shares are the Census's own categories.