Payge
A feminine name of English origin meaning "a youthful servant".
Name Census estimates that about 1,102 living Americans carry the first name Payge. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Payge today is around 22 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Payge births was 2006 (63 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Payge. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
1.1K
~ 1 in 311,029 Americans
Peak year
2006
63 babies that year
Average age
22
years old
2022 SSA rank
#14,869
Tracked since 1962
Popularity
Payge: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Payge from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 511 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Payge by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Payge during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Payges live
The SSA's state-level files cover 11 states and territories. Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas recorded the most babies named Payge, while Wisconsin, Missouri, Illinois recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 15 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Payge
The name Payge is of English origin, derived from the Old French word "paige," which means a young male attendant or servant. This word traces its roots back to the Latin "pagius," meaning a rustic or peasant.
In the Middle Ages, a page was a young man employed as a personal attendant to a nobleman or a knight. These pages often served as messengers, errand-runners, and assistants, and their duties sometimes included attending to the needs of the lord's household or accompanying him on hunting expeditions.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Payge can be found in the 13th century English work "Ancrene Wisse," a guide for anchoresses (religious recluses) written around 1225. The text mentions "Payge" as a male name, indicating its usage during that time period.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Payge. One of the earliest recorded was Payge de la Mare, a 14th-century English landowner and member of the gentry from Hertfordshire. Another was Payge Eyton, a 16th-century English lawyer and member of the Middle Temple in London.
In the realm of literature, Payge Wyndham was an English poet and playwright who lived during the late 16th and early 17th centuries. His works include the play "The Honest Whore" and several collections of poetry.
In the field of exploration and adventure, Payge Travellour was a 17th-century English explorer and navigator who accompanied Captain James Cook on his famous voyages in the Pacific Ocean. His journals and maps provided valuable insights into the regions they visited.
Payge Huntington, born in 1819, was an American entrepreneur and industrialist who founded the Huntington Manufacturing Company, which produced textile machinery and played a significant role in the industrialization of New England.
While these are just a few examples, the name Payge has a rich history spanning centuries, reflecting its origins as a title for young attendants and its subsequent adoption as a given name among various families and individuals.
People
Payge + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Payge as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with P
Other first names starting with P with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Payge: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Payge?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,102 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Payge going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 311,029 US residents.
Is Payge a common name?
We classify Payge as "Rare". It ranks above 90.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,124 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Payge most popular?
The single biggest year for Payge was 2006, when 63 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Payge is about 22 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Payge a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Payge in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.