This interesting surname of English origin, is a dialectal variant of the topographical name for a "dweller by the watercourse or sluice", deriving from the middle English "gote". Recordings include Peter att Gote (1327), "The Subsidy Rolls of Sussex", and John de la Gote (1329), "The Register of the Freemen of the city of York". The name may also be a nickname for someone who behaved in a goat-like way, deriving from the old English pre 7th Century "gat" meaning "goat". Recordings include one Suiein Got (1166) "The Pipe Rolls of Norfolk", and John le Got (1254), "The Calendar of the Patent Rolls". Variations in the idiom of the spelling include Goad, Goade, etc.. Richarde, son of Richarde Goad, was christened on February 24th 1597 at St. Benet Fink, London. Bottres Goade, son of Richard, was christened at St. Mary Whitechapel, Stepney on Feburary 11th 1598. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of William le Gat, which was dated 1139, in Documents illustrative of the Social and Economic History of the Danelaw, during the reign of King Stephen, known as "Count of Blois", 1135 - 1154. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

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