Samuel Yates (May 10, 1919 in Savannah, Georgia – April 22, 1991 in New Brunswick, NJ) was a computer engineer and mathematician who first described unique primes in the 1980s. In 1984 he began the list of "Largest Known Primes" and coined the name titanic prime for any prime with 1,000 or more decimal digits. He also called those who proved their primality "titans". He is the author of Repunits and Repetends (Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 82-50241, Copyright 1982 by Samuel Yates and printed by Star Publishing Co., Boynton Beach, Florida 33435).
Samuel Yatrofsky, married May Berkowitz on April 5, 1941, in Brooklyn, NY, and along with his wife, brother and brother's wife, changed their surname from Yatrofsky to Yates on June 25, 1943, in Burlington County, New Jersey, due to anti-Semitism. His wife, Mae Berkowitz (Yatrofsky) Yates, survives him and lives in Boca Raton, FL. Samuel is also survived by two daughters, one son and many grandchildren and great grandchildren. He is buried in Beth Israel Jewish Cemetery in Woodbridge, NJ.