Oates is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
Adam Oates, professional ice hockey playerColin Oates (born 1983), English judokaCorey Oates (born 1994), Australian rugby league playerCynthia de la Vega Oates, Mexican modelDan Oates, American police chiefEugene William Oates (1845–1911), English naturalistFrank Oates, British African explorerGraham Oates (footballer born 1943), English footballerGraham Oates (footballer born 1949), English footballerJackie Oates (born 1983), English folk musicianJohn Oates, musician and producer of Hall & OatesJohnny Oates, former catcher and manager in Major League BaseballJoyce Carol Oates, American author, novelist, poet, and playwrightLawrence Oates, British Antarctic explorerSimon Oates, British actorStephen B. Oates, American author and biographerT. Oates (rugby league), rugby league playerTom Oates, American sportswriterWarren Oates, American character actorTitus Oates, 17th-century perjurer who fabricated a fraudulent Catholic plot to kill King Charles II of EnglandWilliam Oates (disambiguation)Wallace Eugene Oates, American economist, author of numerous works on fiscal federalism