Payten
Masculine · “From Peyton”
Payten is given to both — 631 boys and 3,344 girls since 1880. See Payten as a girl nameSee other names given to both
Payten is one of the spellings of Peyton, an English place-name surname that crossed from sons to daughters in the late twentieth century. Two Peytons stand out in American history and fiction: the man who presided over the First Continental Congress, and the Confederate planter of Ambrose Bierce's most famous story.
How old is the name Payten?
Payten first appears in US birth records in 1992 — 33 years ago. The typical Payten alive today was born around 2007, making them about 18 years old. About 600 people named Payten are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Payten most popular?
Payten peaked in 2010, reaching #2429 nationally. See the whole 2010 chart.
Where it comes from
From Paega's tun to Payten
The story of Payten
Peyton came to Virginia as a surname and became a Tidewater first name; Peyton Randolph was elected the first president of the Continental Congress when it met in Philadelphia in 1774. In Ambrose Bierce's 1890 story 'An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge', Peyton Farquhar, about to be hanged by Union soldiers, imagines his whole escape in the instant before the rope goes taut. In the late twentieth century Peyton and its spellings, Payton and Payten among them, crossed to daughters, though a real minority of the children given this spelling are boys.
Meaning
From Peyton, an English place-name surname
Peyton is an English place name meaning 'farmstead of Paega', from an Old English personal name and tun, 'farmstead'.
How the name formed
- Paega's tun
- Peyton
- Payten
Related forms: Peyton · Payton
Pronouncing Payten
PAY-tun
Two syllables with the stress on the first.
Nicknames for Payten
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1992
- Most boys named
- 200751 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2429reached in 2010
- Change vs 2022
- 0.0%5 in 2024, from 5
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Payten in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Peyton in English — spelling variant
- Payton in English — spelling variant
Paytens among us
people named Payten are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Payten sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- Sounds like Peyton, a name most people know.
- A real English surname with deep Virginia roots.
- Works for either child.
- Peyton and Payton are the spellings people expect.
- Most children with this spelling are girls, but a real minority are boys; either may be taken for the other.
- It is closely tied to its era.
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Payten
Masculine
Frequently asked
- How many Paytens are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 600 people named Payten are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Payten in 2025?
- Payten is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 boy names.
- Will my child share the name Payten with classmates?
- Payten will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More P names
The most-given names starting with P, all years combined.
Paul#262 · Patrick#235 · Peter#187 · Philip#527 · Phillip#651 · Parker#102 · Preston#299 · Pedro#455
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Payten? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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