Yale (surname)

The surname Yale is derived from the Welsh word "iâl", meaning fertile ground, which was the name of the lordship of Yale in Wales of the royal house of Mathrafal. The name was later given to the estate of Plas-yn-Iâl by the House of Yale (Yale family), a cadet branch of Mathrafal through the princes of Powys Fadog and Fitzgeralds of Corsygedol.

Arms of Baron Ellis ap Griffith, heir by marriage of Plas-yn-Yale, founder of the House of Yale[1][2]

Arms of Chancellor David Yale, granted by Prince Llywelyn the Great, 13th century[3]

Notable descendants with the surname include:

• Thomas Yale (1525/6–1577), co-representative of the Royal House of Mathrafal, grandson of Baron Ellis ap Griffith, Diplomat, Ambassador to Queen Elizabeth Tudor, Chancellor to Archbishop Edmund Grindal, the head of the Church of England, was cousin of the Tudors, family immortalized by William Shakespeare in Henry IV and his Henriad
• David Yale (c. 1540-1626), nephew of Chancellor Thomas Yale, was the Chancellor of Chester and Vicar General of Bishop George Lloydd, was of the family of Sir Simon Weston and the Willoughbys of Wollaton Hall, he was a correspondent of Lord William Cecil of Burghley House
• Thomas Yale Jr. (1616–1683), grandson of Chancellor David Yale of Erddig Park, was captain, merchant, cofounder of New Haven Colony, fought in King Philip's War, half-brother of Samuel Eaton, one of the seven founders of the Harvard Corporation, oldest corporation in America, family cofounded Harvard University
• Elihu Yale (1649–1721), no descendants, president for the British East India Company, Governor and diamond merchant, retired one of the richest men in Britain, benefactor and cofounder of Yale University,[4] family of Gov. Theophilus Eaton and Harvard's first headmaster, Nathaniel Eaton, was father-in-law of Lord James Cavendish, son of the 1st Duke of Devonshire of Chatsworth House and Hardwick Hall
• Elisha Yale (1780-1853), reverend, first minister of Gloversville, New York, founded Kingsborough Academy, graduated from Yale College, was granduncle of Wellington Smith, one of the largest paper manufacturers in America, father of Elizur Yale Smith, who married Mrs. Livingston Tooker Best of Mrs. Astor's Four Hundred, a relative of Gabriel M. Tooker and Charlotte Tooker, of the Goelets and Vanderbilts
• William Yale (1784-1833), merchant, son of patriot Samuel Yale, founder of the Yale manufacturing dynasty of Yalesville, was the largest manufacturer in Meriden, Connecticut, partner of the Griswolds, family of diplomat Henry L. Atherton and the Woodworths, his son-in-law was the proprietor of the "New York Hotel" and a cofounder of the Manhattan Club
• Barnabas Yale (1784-1854), abolitionist lawyer, cofounded Central New-York Anti-Slavery Society, featured in The Liberator, family of Mayor George W. Gardner, the second business partner of John D. Rockefeller, related to Quincy and Adams family, was a cousin of Col. Braddam Yale, family of Venetian Lorenzo Da Ponte, associate of Mozart and Casanova, builder of the first Italian opera in America
• Cyrus Yale (1786-1854), American minister, peace maker and activist, cofounded the US Temperance Union of the Temperance Movement with Stephen Van Rensselaer, of the Van Rensselaer family, the richest man in America, was of the family of Judge John H. Kennard, and Congressmen and Senators William Lawrence and James Wakefield
• Levi Yale (1792-1872), abolitionist, postmaster, justice of the peace, was cofounder and lieutenant governor of the Liberty Party of Connecticut, an abolitionist political party which eventually merged to become the Republican Party, he was an agent of the Underground railroad with Lt. Gov. Benjamin Douglas, his son Levi B. was nominated for Senator
• Linus Yale, Sr. (1797–1858), American inventor and Bank lock maker, 1st Mayor of Newport, New York, his patents signed by U.S. President Andrew Jackson, obtained US Treasury contract for all the new bank locks, mints, sub-treasuries and custom-houses in the US, was cousin of Burrage Yale of Lamson, Goodnow & Yale, the major gun-machine manufacturer of Abraham Lincoln's army
• James Murray Yale (1798–1871), Montreal, chief trader for the Hudson's Bay Company in Canada, fur trader and competitor of John Jacob Astor, Yaletown named after him, was in-law of Sir George Simpson, who was the Governor and defacto Viceroy of Prince Rupert's Land, a cofounder of Canada, and the most powerful man of the North American fur trade, was cousin of Moses Yale Beach, one of the richest men in New York
• Moses Yale Beach (1800–1868), newspaper entrepreneur, proprietor of banks, ambassador, owner of the New York Sun, most successful paper in America, personal spy of U.S. President James Polk for Mexican–American War, fortune 1/4 of Cornelius Vanderbilt, cofounded the Associated Press, oldest and largest news agency in the United States, his nephew was Governor of the New York Stock Exchange
• Edwin R. Yale (1804-1883), Brigadier General of the New Haven Grays, was a Britannia metal merchant and manufacturer in New York, proprietor of the luxurious landmark U.S Hotel and Mansion House Hotel in New York, married a member of the Colgate family, of the Colgate-Palmolive conglomerate and Colgate University, was 1st President and cofounder of the abolitionist Sumter Club for Abraham Lincoln
• Charles Dwight Yale (1810-1890), Democratic Senator from Wallingford, son of Britannia ware manufacturer Charles Yale, founder of Yalesville, Connecticut, nephew of Gen. Edwin R. Yale, owner of the largest hotel in America in the 1830s on Fulton Street, Manhattan, competitor of John Jacob Astor's hotel named the Astor House, cousin of Sarah S. Yale, family of Senators Edgar and Charles Atwater and Judge William Gardner Choate
• Linus Yale, Jr. (1821–1868), inventor, entrepreneur, founded the Yale Lock Company, Premier manufacturer of locks in the U.S., partner of millionaire Henry R. Towne, a fellow of F.W. Taylor, his son John B. Yale married the daughter of the US Treasury Secretary of Abraham Lincoln, Hugh McCulloch, who was with Lincoln at his deathbed the night of April 14, 1865
• William Parry Yale (1825–1909), lieutenant colonel, High Sheriff of Denbighshire, inherited Plas yn Yale from his cousin Sarah Yale, and Madryn Castle from his relative Sir Thomas Love-Jones-Parry, son of Lt. Gen. Sir Love Jones-Parry
• William H. Yale (1831–1917), Senator, 6th lieutenant governor of Minnesota under Governor Horace Austin, President of the Senate, member of the Minnesota State Senate, co-owner of law firm Yale & Webber, with Senator Daniel S. Norton, US Treasury Secretary and Senator William Windom, Congressman Thomas Wilson and attorney general Charles H. Berry.
• John Wesley Yale (1832-1900), Colonel of the 51st New York Infantry, was in the paper business, his nephew was Charles Chapin, NYC editor for Congressman Joseph Pulitzer, his sons-in-laws were Mayor John Henry Walrath and baseball team owner George Frazier, his grandson Col. Wesley W. Yale was a tank commander under General Patton
• Leroy Milton Yale Jr. (1841-1906), Doctor, surgeon, of Martha's Vineyard and Roosevelt Island, cofounder of the New York Etching Club, family of oil industrialist George H. Bissell, founder of the American oil industry and competitor of John D. Rockefeller, the Nobels and the Rothschilds, married granddaughter of Congressman Thomas D. Eliot, of the Eliot family of poet T.S. Eliot, William G. Eliot, cofounder of Washington University, and Chief Judge William Cranch, nephew of U.S. President John Adams
• Madeline Yale Wynne (1847–1918), daughter of Linus Yale, wife of Senator Henry Winn, son of Senator Reuben Winn, she was an American artist and philanthropist, her uncle was Congressman and Gen. Halbert S. Greenleaf
• Charles G. Yale (1847-1926), yachtsman, mining investor, Secretary of the San Francisco Yacht Club, cofounder of the San Francisco Miners' Association with William C. Ralston, founder of the Bank of California, was of the family of General Leonard Bleecker, a personal friend of George Washington and cofounder of the New York Stock Exchange, was grandfather of artist Yale Gracey who worked for Walt Disney
• Ira Yale Sage (1848-1908), U.S. army Colonel, railroad magnate in Atlanta, Georgia, shareholder of the Southern Pacific Railroad, president of various railroads, cousin of Congressman Russell Sage, a partner of Jay Gould who left 70 million fortune in 1906, Sage family of Princess Kay Sage, American royalty, and the Agnelli family of Fiat, Ferrari, and Juventus Football Club
• Caroline Ardelia Yale (1848–1933), an American educator and inventor, revolutionized the education of hearing-impaired people, collaborated with Alexander Graham Bell, Yale crater on Venus named in her honor, Grace Coolidge, wife of US President Calvin Coolidge, lived with her family, was related to abolitionist Laura Spelman, wife of John D. Rockefeller
• John Reed Yale (1855–1925), N.Y. politician, Freemason, entrepreneur, member of the New York State Assembly, Vice Chairman of the Panama–Pacific International Exposition, Chairman of the committee on Railroads
• Charles H. Yale (1856–1920), an American entrepreneur, theatre producer and performer in Boston, worked for the Boylston Museum
• Charles Yale Knight (1868–1940), entrepreneur and inventor of the sleeve valve technology, used for cars, tanks, airplanes, and by the Willys Company, main competitor of Henry Ford, he supplied 26 car manufacturers, produced the Stearns-Knight, Willys-Knight, etc
• Stanley Yale Beach (1877–1955), grandson of Alfred Ely Beach, the builder of NYC first subway and patent lawyer of Thomas Edison, Bell, Vanderbilt and others, was an entrepreneur, aviation pioneer, Wright brothers competitor, owned Scientific American, seated at the Woolworth Building, financed Gustave Whitehead, built airplanes, airships, dealt with U.S Air Force founder Gen. Mitchell and Howard Hughes
• Mortimer Yale Ferris (1881–1941), N.Y., Senator, civil engineer, member of the N.Y. State Senate, Chairman of the Lake Champlain Bridge Commission, M.I.T graduate, was a Freemason, father graduated from Harvard in medicine, family of Horace T. Pitkin and Mary Yale Pitkin, wife of architect Charles Eliot, son of Charles William Eliot, President of Harvard, members of the Eliot family
• William Yale (1887–1975), spy, diplomat, husband of Edith Hanna, family of Senator Hanna, the Chairman of the Republicans, and partner of J.P. Morgan & John D. Rockefeller, was Middle East special agent for Secretary Lansing, companion of Lawrence of Arabia, uncle of Thomas B. Yale, Director of Finance of the CIA under George H. W. Bush, Project Azorian with Howard Hughes
• Frankie Yale (née Ioele) (1893–1928), American gangster, employer of Al Capone, fought for the control of the Brooklyn docks
• Wesley W. Yale (1900-2001), Colonel of Combat Command B in General Patton's Third Army, had the responsibilities of a general during the Battle of the Bulge, captured Nazi camps, his son was Lt. Col in the US Air Force, worked at Stanford Research Institute, he was a grandson of Col. John Wesley Yale of New York
• Joseph Yale Resnick (1924-1969), N.Y., Congressman, entrepreneur, multimillionaire, was candidate for U.S. Senator, his aide became Advisor to U.S. President Bill Clinton, cofounded Channel Master Corporation, was radio officer during WWII
• David Yale (1928–2021), son of Colonel John Corbert Yale, was fellow at the University of Cambridge, President of the Selden Society, Honorary Queen's Counsel for England and Wales, granted by Queen Elizabeth II, his family were Members of Parliament, taught at Yale Law School
• William Yale Giles (born 1934), co-proprietor of the Philadelphia Phillies, acquired from the Carpenter/Dupont family, son of Warren Giles, president of the National League of baseball and the Cincinnati Reds, great-grandson of architect Merton Yale Cady, family of Linus Yale Sr. and John Deere, founder of the John Deere conglomerate
• Kim Yale (1953–1997), an American writer and editor for DC Comics, Marvel Comics, and Eclipse Comics, worked on Suicide Squad, Star Trek, and The Batman Chronicles, father was Navy Lieutenant Commander, married to comic books artist John Ostrander
• Stephen Yale-Loehr (born 1954), American attorney, author, Cornell graduate, law professor at Cornell, founding member of Business Immigration Lawyers, adviser concerning President Obama DAPA program
• Brian Yale (born 1968), musician of Matchbox Twenty, nominated for Grammy awards, partner of artist Rob Thomas, a songwriter for Mick Jagger, Marc Anthony, etc
• Janet Yale, Montreal, Canadian telecommunications lawyer and executive, CEO of Arthritis Society, CEO of Scouts Canada, executive vice president of Telus Communications, board member of CARE Canada