Gates — Origin & Etymology
The Gates surname derives from the Old English word geat (plural: gatu), meaning "gate" or "opening" — a topographic name for families who lived near the gates of a medieval walled town or castle, or who worked as gatekeepers. The name shares roots with Yates — both descend from Old English gatu. In northern England and East Anglia, a second derivation comes from Old Norse gata, meaning "road" or "path." [Gates surname research, April 2026]
Spelling variants include: Gate, Gayte, Gait, Gaits, Gatis, Yate, Yates, Jette. Scottish variants: Gaittis, Gaittie, Gaets. German immigration produced Götz/Goetz → Gates. French Barrière families also translated their name to "Gates." This means some Gates slaveholders may have had German or French ancestry, not only English.
Early Documented English Records
- Ailricus de la Gata — 1169 AD, Pipe Rolls of Devonshire (earliest documented bearer)
- Ralph Gates — 1206, Curia Regis Rolls, Oxfordshire
- Hugh le Geyt — 1273, Hundred Rolls (Rotuli Hundredorum), Oxfordshire
- Gilbert atte Gate; Cristina Gate — 1275, Assize Rolls of Cheshire; Subsidy Roles of Worcestershire
- Silvester atte Gates — 1354, Rector of Brinton, Norfolk (first ecclesiastical bearer)
- Thomas de Gayte, Jonannes atte Gate, Robertus de Gate, Custancia del Gates — 1379, Poll Tax Rolls of Yorkshire
Gates County, North Carolina — The Most Critical Geographic Anchor
Gates County was established in 1779 and named after Revolutionary War General Horatio Gates. It sits in the northeastern corner of North Carolina, bordering Virginia (Nansemond/Suffolk and Isle of Wight Counties). African Americans bearing the Gates surname after emancipation were frequently connected to Gates County or the adjacent Virginia Tidewater region. The county's Black population in 1870 was substantial — many were freedpeople who remained near former plantations bearing their enslaver's name.
General Horatio Gates (1727–1806) — Documented Slaveholder
Horatio Gates was an American Revolutionary War general born in Maldon, Essex, England, who settled in Virginia. He is documented as a slaveholder on his Virginia plantation, "Traveller's Rest", in Berkeley County (present-day West Virginia). Gates later sold his Virginia plantation and is documented to have freed some or all of his enslaved people before moving to New York in the 1790s. If recorded, manumissions appear in Berkeley County deed books or Virginia manumission records — potentially critical for Gates-surnamed African American families with Virginia roots. [Wikipedia, List of Slave Owners]
Gates Slaveholding — Documented Geographic Presence
| State / County | Period | Notes | Research Sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| Virginia (Berkeley Co., now WV) | 1750s–1790s | Horatio Gates — "Traveller's Rest" plantation; manumissions ca. 1790s | Berkeley County deed books; WV State Archives; Library of Virginia |
| Virginia — Nansemond (Suffolk), Isle of Wight, Tidewater | 1790–1860 | Multiple Gates family slaveholders documented; Virginia Slave Births Index 1853–1866 | Library of Virginia; VA Slave Births Index; "Unknown No Longer" database (VHS) |
| Gates County, NC | 1790–1860 | County named for General Horatio Gates; African Americans bearing Gates surname after emancipation frequently connected here | NC State Archives; 1850/1860 Slave Schedules (FamilySearch); "People Not Property" project |
| North Carolina — Hertford, Bertie, Northampton Counties | 1790–1860 | Adjacent counties; shared family networks with Gates County; Roanoke River plantation corridor | NC State Archives; county deed books; wills |
| Maryland — Eastern Shore | 1790–1860 | Mixed enslaved/free Black Gates community; manumission records survive | Maryland State Archives (msa.maryland.gov) |
| South Carolina — Charleston, Lowcountry | 1790–1860 | Gates slaveholders documented in SC appraisal and inventory books | SC Department of Archives and History (scdah.sc.gov) |
| Georgia — coastal and piedmont | 1820–1860 | Migration from VA/NC | Georgia Historical Society; 1860 Slave Schedule |
| Tennessee and Kentucky | 1820–1860 | Through westward migration of Virginia families | TN State Library & Archives; TN slave schedules |
| Mississippi / Alabama | 1840–1860 | Later migration from the Upper South; county-level slave schedule search | FamilySearch 1860 slave schedule; MS Dept. of Archives |
Research Advantage — Gates Is Rare Enough to Trace
Unlike Harris or Smith, the Gates surname is rare enough that there were likely only one or two Gates slaveholding families per county in the antebellum South. Start with the county's 1860 slave schedule, then move to estate records. A comprehensive search across all Southern state slave schedules on FamilySearch is achievable in a single research session. Cross-reference the ages and sexes listed in the slave schedule with your 1870 ancestor to identify the likely slaveholder.
Gates Research Resources
- Virginia Museum of History & Culture — "Unknown No Longer" (virginiahistory.org) — 3,200+ named enslaved individuals compiled from private VA manuscripts; Gates slaveholders appear in multiple county collections from the 1700s–1860s
- Library of Virginia — "Virginia Untold" (lva.virginia.gov) — Gates-connected records; search both "Gates" as slaveholder and as surname of enslaved persons
- West Virginia State Archives — Berkeley County deed books ca. 1790s; if General Horatio Gates formally manumitted enslaved people, documents appear here
- NC State Archives (archives.ncdcr.gov) — Gates County wills, deeds, estate inventories; county records pre-1865
- Digital Library on American Slavery (dlas.uncg.edu) — Gates slaveholders documented in multiple state petitions
- "People Not Property" project (ncgenealogy.org) — NC bills of sale indexing named enslaved people; includes Gates County
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