The Moats surname

In the 2010 U.S. Census, 5,778 people carried this name — #5,956 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 51,000 people counted. That is up 4% from 5,556 in 2000.

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Where the name comes from

The origin of the Moats surname

Variant of Moat.

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary (en.wiktionary.org) — entry «Moats» (English), by Wiktionary contributors · licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0) · excerpt, lightly adapted.

In print

Moats in American newspapers,
1907–1919.

Newspaper page from Belington Progressive carrying the name Moats
Belington Progressive 1918-09-26
Newspaper page from New-york Tribune carrying the name Moats
New-york Tribune 1907-07-14
Newspaper page from Missouri Valley Times carrying the name Moats
Missouri Valley Times 1919-10-16

Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain.

In print

Moats in Australian newspapers,
1850s–1940s.

171 articles name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Moats. The most, 45, date from the 1920s. New South Wales has the most articles, but weighed against how much of each state’s press from the same decades has been digitised, the name stands out most in Queensland, at 1.5 times its expected share.

Articles, by state

New South Wales 59
Queensland 45
Victoria 23
South Australia 18
Western Australia 13
Tasmania 11

Trove, National Library of Australia (trove.nla.gov.au) · articles in its digitised newspapers that name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Moats.

Who carried it

People named Moats,
with a public archive behind them.

  • Alice-Leone Moats
    Alice-Leone Moats 1908–1989 · writer

Wikidata (CC0) · portraits via Wikimedia Commons, shown cropped, in the public domain or CC0 · 4 lives in all are documented under this name.

In the public record

People named Moats,
in the records of the United States.

Soldiers, farmers, migrants and neighbours who carried the name and left a trace in public archives. Everyone shown here died long ago or was born more than a century ago.

United States265 records

265 records of the Moats name in the United States
  • U.S. Army enlistment records, World War II 173
  • U.S. veterans' cemetery records, burials to 2001 75
  • New York State death index (outside NYC), 1957–2001 9
  • U.S. alien registration index, 1940–1955 3
  • U.S. service members who died in the Korean War 3
  • New York City birth, marriage and death certificates 2
  1. A United States Selective Service registration card, 1942
    Example: U.S. registration card, 1942
    Military record Ralph D. Moats

    Born 1898 in Nebraska. Enlisted 1942 at Portland, Oregon; machine shop worker. U.S. Army veteran of World War II; died 1963, buried at Fort Logan National Cemetery, Colorado.

    U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain); U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0)
  2. Names engraved on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Washington, D.C.
    Example: U.S. war memorial
    War record Eugene Moats

    Born 1932; from Pendleton County, West Virginia. U.S. Army, light weapons infantry leader; killed in action 1953 in North Korea.

    U.S. National Archives, Defense Casualty Analysis System (public domain)
  3. A U.S. Army record of death and interment, Camp Nelson, Kentucky, 1864
    Example: U.S. burial record, 1864
    Burial record James Moats

    U.S. Army veteran. Born 1841, died 1931; buried at Fairview Chapel Cemetery, Kingwood, West Virginia.

    U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0)

Showing 3 of 265 records for Moats in the United States.

Counts: U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain) · U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0) · New York State Department of Health, Genealogical Research Death Index · U.S. National Archives, Flexoline Index Data File (public domain) · U.S. National Archives, Defense Casualty Analysis System (public domain) · NYC Department of Records & Information Services, Historical Vital Records (NYC Open Data). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: U.S. Selective Service registration card, 1942 (public domain); Vietnam Veterans Memorial, photo by U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Michael J. Carden, 2009 (public domain); Record of death and interment, Camp Nelson, Kentucky, 1864, U.S. National Archives (public domain).

Nearby in the index

Surnames next to Moats.

When the index is not enough

This page says where Moats is.
A volume says what happened to it.

Every page in the index is free and stays free. The Heritage Volume is the long form: the full paper trail, the arms, the crossing — bound, and yours.

See the Moats volume
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