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Gately Family History

This interesting old name is of Anglo-Saxon origin, and is a locational surname from one of the places called "Gateley" in Norfolk, or "Gatley" in Cheshire and Herefordshire. "Gateley" in Norfolk is recorded as "Gatelea" in the Domesday Book of 1086 and means "the clearing where goats were kept", derived from the Olde English pre 7th Century "gat", goat and "leah", clearing in a wood. "Gatley" in Cheshire was "Gatsclyve" in 1290, from "gat" and "clif", cliff, the goat's cliff, while "Gatley" in Herefordshire was "Gatesleg" in 1230 and means "the clearing by the pass", from the Old English "geat", a gate or pass, with "leah" as above.