cates surname not listed
Can anyone help?
vote up1vote down

Replies

I couln't find this surname in the dictionary of English surnames that I have, probably this surname is rather local in Britain.
However there are quite a few Cates in USA: Cates ranks 1439 (1990)
among the american surnames.
In Ellis Island site the Cates are coming generally from England.
Perhaps surnames Cates could be an americanization of european like:
CATE or CATTE that are italian surnames derived from the feminin first name Caterina (Catherine).
KATS: a surname from Holland, Russia and Germany. In german
Katz means "cat".
Cates exists or existed as a surname in the Netherlands and Northern Spain, in Catalunya.
So this surname is not so easy to explain.
vote up1vote down
It may be derived from Latin "Cato" meaning "all knowing" or possibly from a form of Catherine ...Greek for "pure" ...just guessing ...
vote up1vote down