Keats (surname)

The family name Keats, a surname of England, is believed to be descended originally from the Anglo Saxon race from old English word cyta or cyte which has been used to describe a worker at the shed, outhouse for animals, hence herdsman. It can also be attributed to the Middle English word kete or kyte (the bird) from greed or rapacity.

The family name Keats emerged as a notable family name in the county of Devonshire where they were recorded as a family of great antiquity seated at Kitts and they were the Lords of the manor and of now extinct baronets. They also branched into Berkshire and Gloucestershire. As of the 1891 census in England most Keats's or Keates's were resident in Staffordshire.

In North America members of the family name Keats had made their way to the New World in such places as Newfoundland, Maryland, Boston and Philadelphia. These first migrants could be considered a kinsman of the surname Keats or a variable spelling of the family name.

Some of early instances of Keats in North America are:

* John Keates, Justice of Ferryland district, 1730;
* William Keate(s), of Trinity Bay, 1765;
* John Keats, Boston, 1769;
* Thomas Keate of Maryland, 1774;
* M. Keates, of St. Mary's, 1782;
* Sarah, of Trinity, Trinity Bay, 1794;
* Robert Keats, of Bonavista, 1794;
* ----- Keat, joint purchaser of fishing room on Pond Island, Greenspond Harbour, 1802;
* Robert Keates, missionary of Twillingate, 1813;
* James Keat, of St. John's, 1828;
* George Keets, school-master of Port Rexton, 1843;
* Samuel Keates, of Castle Cove, Bonavista Bay, 1856;
* Thomas J., granted land at Little Placentia (now Argentia), 1857;
* Ann Kates, of Herring Neck, 1857;
* Frederick and John Keats, Philadelphia, between 1868 and 1870;
* Robert Kates or Keates, of Grates Cove, 1860, of Caplin Cove, Conception Bay, 1871;
* Samuel Keats, of Musgravetown, 1871;
* Samuel and William, of Newman's Cove, 1871;
* Theodore Kates, of Cape Norman, 1871.

Notable amongst the Keats family name would be:
* John Keats, poet
* Vice-Admiral Sir Richard Keats, Governor of Newfoundland
* Ezra Jack Keats, author
* Duke Keats, ice hockey player

The Coat of Arms for Keats is a silver shield overlaid with three dark silver mountain cats beneath an Armet and embroidered with vines and leaves of alternating colours of red and silver.

Place names using Keats:
* Keats' House, home of poet John Keats
* Keats Island, Bonavista Bay, Newfoundland.

See also

* Anglo-Saxon names
* List of Old English (Anglo-Saxon) surnames
* Family name

External links

* [http://www.houseofnames.com/xq/asp.c/qx/keats-coat-arms.htm Keats Coat of Arms]
* [http://www.irishfamilycoatsofarms.com/keats-uk.html Irish / English crest]