Tate comes from an English surname that was probably derived from the Old Norse word for cheerful.

One bearer of the surname was English sugar merchant Henry Tate (1819-1899), who funded the building of the original Tate art gallery in London. The Tate is now a network of four galleries (Tate Britain, Tate Liverpool, Tate St Ives and Tate Modern) spread throughout England.

Closely related to Tate is the name Tatum, which was originally place name refering to a homestead owned by Tate.