Payton
Masculine · “Pæga's farmstead”
Payton is given to both — 24,739 boys and 60,045 girls since 1880. See Payton as a girl nameSee other names given to both
Payton is Pæga's farmstead — an English place name with an Anglo-Saxon personal name inside it, which became a Scottish surname and then a first name for both sexes.
How old is the name Payton?
Payton was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Payton alive today was born around 2003, making them about 22 years old. About 24,000 people named Payton are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Payton most popular?
Payton peaked in 2000, reaching #219 nationally. Today it ranks #1564, 1,345 places below that high. See the whole 2000 chart.
Where it comes from
From Pæga + tun to Payton
The story of Payton
Peyton and Payton are English place names that became surnames, and the Paton and Peyton families carried them in Scotland and England. The surname crossed into American given-name use in the twentieth century and rose very fast from the 1990s — for boys first, helped by a well-known quarterback, and then in even larger numbers for girls. Masculine Payton peaked in the mid-2000s.
Meaning
Pæga's farmstead
From an English place name, generally read as the Old English personal name Pæga plus tun, 'farmstead' or 'settlement'. Peyton in Sussex and Paighton in Devon both feed the surname. Pæga's own name is not further recoverable.
How the name formed
- Pæga + tun
- Peyton
- Payton
Related forms: Peyton · Paton
Pronouncing Payton
PAY-tun
Two syllables, stress on the first. Payton and Peyton are said identically.
Nicknames for Payton
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
- 1880
- Most boys named
- 20051,429 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #219reached in 2000
- Change vs 2023
- −9.2%109 in 2025, from 120
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.
Payton in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Peyton in English — spelling variant
- Paton in Scottish — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, Illinois, California.
Paytons among us
people named Payton are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 15,670 born in 2025 was named Payton
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Quentin test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Payton's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Quentin climbed just as high around 1919, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Quentin's path sketches the road Payton is walking now.
Payton sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Payton is headed
Payton is easing off slowly — about 19% fewer babies a year by 2030 if the trend continues.
High confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Payton beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Payton in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A documented English place name with a transparent second element.
- It works for either sex, which some families specifically want.
- Two clean syllables with no pronunciation risk.
- Peyton is the commoner spelling and the two are constantly confused.
- It is thoroughly unisex and does not signal sex on paper.
- It is closely dated to the 2000s in American records.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Payton to the vote.
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What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Payton
Masculine · #1564 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Paytons are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 24,000 people named Payton are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Payton in 2025?
- Payton ranks #1564 among US boy names in 2025, with 109 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Payton?
- About 1 in every 15,670 US boys born in 2025 was named Payton — 109 in all.
- Will my child share the name Payton with classmates?
- Payton will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Payton
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Terrance#1564 · Kalvin#1564 · Kamdyn#1564 · Dwayne#1564 · Kacen#1564 · Abdulrahman#1564 · Emeric#1571 · Vivaan#1571
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Payton? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Payton and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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Weighing a whole shortlist? Add the rest in the builder, or settle it with a bracket.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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