The original English form is ‘Bate’ meaning rich in the lands. When the ’s’ was added, it referred to the son of Bate. In English it can also be related to the name ‘Bartholomew,’ From Germany the surname is in the form of ‘Betz.’

In England most Bates families live in the counties of Lancashire, Yorkshire, Warwickshire, Staffordshire and the London area.

In the United States most live in California, Texas and the northeast states over to Illinois.

In the 1880s, most Bates families were farmers.

Famous: Sir Alan A. Bates (20th century British actor of stage, screen and television), Kathy Bates (actress and film director), Edward Bates (19th century U.S. lawyer and statesman, who under President Lincoln), Tyler Bates (music producer and composer for films), William Horatio Bates (physician who developed the Bates Method for improving eyesight), Herbert Ernest Bates (20th century British writer), Katharine Lee Bates (author of the words for ‘America the Beautiful’), Virginia Bates (fashion designer) and Clayton ‘Peg Leg’ Bates (one-legged tap dancer).