Wingate
An English surname usually taken from a place-name meaning “wind gate” or “winding gate,” especially in Durham and nearby counties.
The #4,242 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 36,936 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Wingate is generally explained as a locational surname from an English place-name, especially Wingate in Durham. The name is usually derived from Old English elements meaning “wind” or “to wind/turn” plus geat, “gate” or “opening,” giving a sense of a winding pass, road, or gate. Some older writers also associated it with nearby forms such as Windgate(s) and Wingates, which supports the place-name origin.
History
The surname is recorded in northeastern England, especially Durham, and later appears in other parts of England. Historical spellings varied, including forms like Windegatis and Windgates, showing how place-names often shifted before spelling was standardized. A French-looking derivation from guinguette was suggested by one later writer, but the English place-name explanation is the standard one in surname studies.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
19th- and early-20th-century surname writers sometimes disagreed over whether Wingate was English or had a French source, but the English place-name reading became the usual explanation.
From the historical record
“ingham and Eutlaud. WINGATE. A cliapelry in co. Dur- ham. AA^INGET. See AVingate. WINGFIELD. "The AA^ingfields of AA'iugfield and Letheringham, botli in Suffolk, a distinguished family of the four- teenth and iifteenth centuries, are traced nearly to the Conquest, though they do not appear to have been lords of the…”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom