The surname of AGATES is of two fold origin. It was was a baptismal name 'the son of Agnes' a popular feminine name during the 12th to the 16th century. This name was borne by an early Christian saint, a twelve year old Roman girl who was martyred for her Christian belief in the time of Diocletoan (245-313). When the coast of England was invaded by William The Conqueror in the year 1066, the Normans brought with them a store of French personal names, which soon, more or less, entirely replaced the traditional more varied Old English personal names, at least among the upper and middle classes. A century of so later, given names of the principal saints of the Christian church began to be used. It is from these two types of given name that the majority of the English patronymic surnames are derived and used to this day. The name was also a locational name for someone who lived near or by the town or village gate. Habitation names were originally acquired by the original bearer of the name, who, having lived by, at or near a place, would then take that name as a form of identification for himself and his family. When people lived close to the soil as they did in the Middle Ages, they were acutely conscious of every local variation in landscape and countryside. Every field or plot of land was identified in normal conversation by a descriptive term. If a man lived on or near a hill or mountain, or by a river or stream, forests and trees, he might receive the word as a family name. Almost every town, city or village in early times, has served to name many families. Early records of the name mention Adam ATEGATE, who was recorded in Cambridge in the year 1273, and Thomas AGOT of Yorkshire, was listed in the Yorkshire Poll Tax of 1379. A later instance of the name includes James AGATE and Ann Bennett who were married at St. George's, Hanover Square, London in the year 1768. In the Middle Ages heraldry came into use as a practical matter. It originated in the devices used to distinguish the armoured warriors in tournament and war, and was also placed on seals as marks of identity. As far as records show, true heraldry began in the middle of the 12th century, and appeared almost simultaneously in several countries of Western Europe.