Payton

What Payton means

Means “enclosure; settlement, town”

Habitational surname from a minor place in Sussex, from the Old English personal name Pǣga + tūn (“enclosure; settlement, town”).

Source: Wiktionary, “Payton” (revision 82051100), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Payton?

US: Falling: down from #153 in 2015. England & Wales: Falling: down from #775 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 2010, when 3,589 girls got the name (#79 that year). First in the US records in 1966.

How common

• About 1 in 2,293 baby girls in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 15,830 baby girls in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 4,473 baby girls in Scotland in 2025

“1 in N” divides by all listed births for that sex. The US list leaves out names given to fewer than 5 babies, and the UK lists leave out names given to 2 or fewer, so the real figure is a little rarer than shown.

Where in the US

Most popular in SD (2.95 per 1,000 girls), DE (2.66 per 1,000 girls), NH (2.37 per 1,000 girls) in 2025.

SSA state data, 2025. Share of all listed girls born in each state.

US vs UK

Payton is #440 in the US and #1809 in England & Wales (2025).

Same sex as this page (girls). SSA (US), ONS (England and Wales), NRS (Scotland).

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 86.5% of US babies named Payton were girls.

Counts below the publishing threshold (US 5, UK 3) are not included.

Other spellings

Other spellings parents chose in 2025

• Peyton1,559 US · 53 E&W
• Paityn107 US
• Payten14 US
• Paiton8 US
• Paetyn7 US
• Patton6 US
• Payden6 US

Names that sound the same and differ by a letter or two, with baby counts for the same sex. US and E&W counts.

If you like Payton

Girls

• Makenna#593Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 2005, with 1,619 babies; 495 in 2025
• Mckenna#410Editor’s note First shows up in US records in 1972, with 5 babies
• Maddison#438Editor’s note Down from #310 in 2015 to #438 in 2025 in the US
• Makenzie#700Editor’s note Cooling off in the US: #210 in 2015, #700 in 2025
• Rylie#476Editor’s note More popular in the US than England & Wales: #476 vs #1,454 in 2025
• Delaney#242“from the alder grove”^*

For a brother

• Davis#668Editor’s note More popular in the US than England & Wales: #668 vs #5,137 in 2025
• Quinn#466“descendant of Chief”^*
• Logan#53“little hollow”^*
• Kyler#404“archer”^*
• Avery#291Editor’s note Down from #188 in 2015 to #291 in 2025 in the US
• Jagger#883“peddler”^*

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under From a surname, whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Payton’s. Rank is US 2025.