Oakes is an English surname that means "dweller by the oak trees", from Old English ac, "oak", and it belongs to the family of tree names that also gave Oakley and Oaklee. The s ending places it with surname names like Hayes, Brooks and Banks. Oakes was essentially unused in 2000, ranked number 6972 in 2015 and has climbed every year since, reaching its best rank of number 2438 in 2025 with 56 boys.