[2] The surname Coates, which originally is of Norman background,[3] was first found in Staffordshire where the family are "descended from Sir Richard de Cotes, who was probably son of Thomas de Coates, living in 1157, when the Black Book of the Exchequer was compiled.
The first mention of the name in America is in 1638, when Sir John Coates came to Maryland and soon afterwards obtained the grant of a tract of land five miles from the city of Washington, part of which is still owned by descendants.
It begins with a mention of Edward Coates, Esquire of Combe House in county Radnor who was Justice of the Peace and High Sheriff in 1866.
This Coates Family Arms is blazoned as follows in heraldry: Gules, a greyhound statant within an orle of roses argent, with the crest being: Upon a mount vert a greyhound couchant argent collared and lined or, resting the dexter paw on a rose gules.
The first begins with a mention of Sir Frederick Gregory Lindsay Coates, the 2nd Baronet, of Haypark, of the city of Belfast, who was a Major in the Royal Tank Regiment in World War II.