Given name & surname
Tate
Tate is used as a given name and a surname. One English interpretation is “a cheerful man; one who brings happiness to others.” Its derivation is not certain.
Meaning & origin
What it means
One English interpretation is “a cheerful man; one who brings happiness to others.” Its derivation is not certain.
Where it comes from
A possible origin is English, although the derivation remains uncertain.
How it developed
From Middle English *Tate, from Old English Tāta, from Proto-West Germanic *tait, from Proto-Germanic *taitaz (“radiant, glad, cheerful, tender”), from Old Norse Táta.
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1912. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Tate through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 28,955
- 27,400 boys · 1,555 girls
- Most popular year
- 2025
- 2,022 babies
- 2025
- 2,022
- #194 for boys · #1,379 for girls
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- +126%
- Rising fast
Boys, girls and both
The balance of boys and girls given this name has shifted over time. Recent births are 95% boys.
Where it’s given
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 1,862 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 194 among boys’ names. Average annual use for boys was 125.2% higher in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. It also appeared in 160 birth records for girls in 2025. In 2025, Texas had the largest reported state-level birth count for boys with this name (174). Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 19,139 as a first name in 2020; 68,390 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Tate’s family of names
Tate has a related form in Tait. Tate has a related form in Tayte. Tate has a related form in Taite.
Inner ring: spellings · middle: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Nicknames & forms 7
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Spellings & scripts 2
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
Across languages 1
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
People named Tate
- Tate McRaeCanadian singer, songwriter, and dancerborn 2003
- Tate DonovanAmerican actor (born 1963)
- Tate TaylorAmerican actor, screenwriter, film producer and directorborn 1969
- Tate Reeves65th governor of Mississippiborn 1974
- Tate SmithAustralian canoeistborn 1981
- Tate EllingtonAmerican actorborn 1979
- Tate ArmstrongAmerican basketball player (born 1955)
- Tate StevensAmerican singerborn 1975
- Tate GeorgeAmerican basketball player (born 1968)
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Appears in
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