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, a cadet branch of Mathrafal through the princes of Powys Fadog and Fitzgeralds of Corsygedol.

Captain Thomas Yale was a British American magistrate, politician and military officer. He was one of the founders of the town of Wallingford, Connecticut. He became Justice of the Peace, surveyor and moderator for Wallingford, and helped establish its first Congregational church in 1675. He was also elected, for numbers of years, as deputy to the Connecticut General Assembly.