Tate

How to say it

/teɪt/

What it means

Old English Tata or Old Norse Teitr, 'cheerful, glad.' Originally a personal name and surname; the Tate galleries in London (named for sugar magnate Henry Tate) are the institutional anchor.

Tate comes from the Old English Tata or the Old Norse Teitr, both meaning 'cheerful' or 'glad.' Used as a personal name in early medieval England and as a surname later. Sir Henry Tate (1819-1899), the sugar magnate who donated his art collection to the British nation and funded the building that became the Tate Britain gallery, gave the surname its institutional anchor; the Tate galleries (Britain, Modern, Liverpool, St. Ives) are among the most-visited art venues in the world. As a first name Tate is American and modern: rare before 2000, then climbing fast. It's been in the US top 300 since 2014. Single syllable, no shorter form.

Heads-up notes

• Pop culture

  The Tate galleries (Britain, Modern, Liverpool, St. Ives) anchor the surname; Sharon Tate's 1969 Manson Family murder is a darker cultural footprint some Tates carry.

Who's worn it

Historical figures, characters, and public faces who share the name. The cultural surface, for whatever weight you want to give it.

• Sir Henry Tate British sugar magnate, founded the Tate Gallery in 1897

Spelling variants

• Tait
• Teyte

Names with the same feeling

• Chase Hunter
• Knox Round hill
• Dean Valley, or 'dean' (administrative head)
• Cole Charcoal-dark, or short for Nicholas
• Tate Cheerful, glad

See Tate from another angle