# Yates (surname)

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

A surname.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | English |
| Type | not recorded |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 63,254 |
| US rank (2010) | 535 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 4,881 people |
| Change since 2000 | +3.0% (61,400 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | /jeɪts/, 1 syllable |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |

## Etymology

From the Old English surname, from yate, obsolete form of gate.

## Who carries it

Share of people named Yates 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) | 81% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 14% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 2.3% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.5% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.5% |
| Two or more races | 2.1% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Yates in the United States, the United Kingdom and the Kingdom of Great Britain.

## People named Yates

- Richard Yates, American novelist, short story writer (1926-1992)
- Sally Yates, American lawyer, 36th United States Deputy Attorney General
- Sean Yates, British cyclist and sporting director
- Archie Yates, British actor
- Richard Yates, 13th Governor of Illinois, U.S. Senator (1815-1873)
- Janty Yates, British costume designer
- Josephine Silone Yates, American chemist
- Sidney R. Yates, American politician (1909–2000)
- Reggie Yates, British actor, television presenter and radio DJ
- Pauline Yates, British actress (1929–2015)
- Richard Yates, American politician, judge and lawyer (1860–1936)
- Kirby Yates, American baseball player (born 1987)

and 5 more on Wikidata.

## Similar surnames

Yeates, Yeatts, Yutzy.

## 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.