I have been researching my family and connections for over 40 years.

Origins of the name:-
At the commecncement of Parish Registers in 1538 there were numerous 
Gater/Gaitor/Gayter families in North Staffordshire and South Cheshire.
Members of my family were living in Wybunbury, Cheshire, in the 1550s.
Wybunbury is situated close to the Staffordshire/Shropshire border and my 
branch moved to Betley in the 1700s, thence to Newport, Shropshire (1820s) and 
then to Kent and London. Most of them were tailors and my grandfather was the 
first in my direct line to break the chain. He was a confectioner. My father 
was a Chartered Secretary and I am a Chartered Surveyor.

According to Reaney `Dictionary of British Surnames`, the name Gater is derived 
from Old Norse gata, `dweller by the gate` or in the South, OE gat `goat`, 
hence `goatherd.` 
Perhaps the gate in this instance refers to the Cheshire Gap which is the 
natural gateway from Cheshire to the Midlands. Wybunbury and Betley are 
situated on this important route.   Indeed, the railway and M6 Motorway follow 
it today !  

There were other Gater families living in the West Country and Oxfordshire. At 
least one member was the Mayor of Old Sarum, circa 1400, but they do not appear 
to be connected with the Staffordshire families.   There were GEATER families 
living in East Anglia and it may be that all of them, Gaters, Geaters and 
variants were of Viking origin.   There was a tribe of GEATS in Scandinavia! 
Certainly, the Vikings invaded East Anglia and the North West.  There are a lot 
of blue eyes in my Gater line and it is possible we are of Viking stock.


When one considers local, let alone regional, dialects, the fact that the 
majority of folk were illiterate 150 years ago, and there was no universal 
spelling, it is hardly surprising one finds numerous name variants in the old 
records.