GATE. From residence near either the gate of a fortified town, or of a chase, forest, or the like. Its medieval forms are Ate Gate and Atte Gate, which have since the XV. cent, modified to Agate, Gater, and especially to Gates, now one of the commonest of surnames. In North Britain (jatc is equivalent to way ; as in the phrase, "Gang your Gate" for "Go your way." See also Northgate, Southgate, &c. De la Gate, de Gate, and Le Gater, occur in the H.R.

Lower, Mark A (1860) Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom. London: J.R. Smith. Public Domain.