Payne
From the Germanic name meaning "a worker" or "peasant".
Name Census estimates that about 1,233 living Americans carry the first name Payne. It is a predominantly male name (99.2% of registrations). The average person named Payne today is around 23 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Payne births was 2000 (121 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Payne. 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
1.2K
~ 1 in 277,984 Americans
Peak year
2000
121 babies that year
Average age
23
years old
2024 SSA rank
#9,622
Tracked since 1900
Census
Payne in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,341 people with the first name Payne, which placed it at #10,082 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#10,082
National first-name rank
People counted
1.3K
1,341 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
79.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Payne
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Payne is White at 79.6%. The next largest groups are Black (8.0%) and Hispanic (4.9%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Payne described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Payne at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White79.6% · 1,068
- Black or African American8.0% · 107
- Hispanic or Latino4.9% · 66
- Two or more races3.8% · 51
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.0% · 27
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.6% · 22
Gender
Gender distribution for Payne
Out of the 1,302 babies given the name Payne since 1880, 99.2% were registered as male. The name sits firmly on the male side of the spectrum, with only a handful of female registrations across the entire dataset.
Payne as a male name
- Ranked #9,622 in 2024
- 8 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2000 (121 births)
Payne as a female name
- Ranked #14,940 in 2002
- 6 female births in 2002
- Peak: 2002 (6 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Payne leans strongly male. 1,225 people counted with this name were male (91.3%), compared with 116 female bearers (8.7%).
Popularity
Payne: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Payne from the 1900s through to the 2020s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 557 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
Payne 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 Payne during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Paynes live
The SSA's state-level files cover 12 states and territories. Texas, Ohio, Michigan recorded the most babies named Payne, while Louisiana, Indiana, Iowa recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 19 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Payne
The name Payne has its origins in the Old French word "paine," which translates to "bread" or "life's sustenance." This word can be traced back to the Latin word "panis," meaning "bread" or "food." The name likely emerged during the Middle Ages in France, where it was initially used as a surname referring to someone who baked or sold bread.
In medieval times, surnames often derived from occupations or trades. The name Payne would have been given to individuals whose primary occupation involved baking or providing bread, which was a vital staple in the daily diet of the time. As a result, the name became associated with individuals who played a crucial role in sustaining life through their work.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Payne appears in the Domesday Book, a manuscript record of the great survey commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. The name is mentioned in connection with various landholders and tenants across England, indicating that individuals with this surname had already established a presence in the region.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Payne. One of the earliest was Robert Payne (c. 1325-1397), an English cleric who served as the Bishop of Chichester from 1372 until his death. Another prominent individual was John Payne (c. 1532-1600), an English composer and musician who served as a Gentleman of the Chapel Royal under Queen Elizabeth I.
In the 17th century, Payne rose to prominence with the birth of Thomas Paine (1737-1809), an English-American political activist, philosopher, and revolutionary who played a crucial role in the American Revolution. His works, including "Common Sense" and "The Rights of Man," had a profound impact on the struggle for independence and the advancement of human rights.
Another notable figure was John Howard Payne (1791-1852), an American actor, playwright, and author who is best known for writing the lyrics to the famous song "Home! Sweet Home!" His literary works, including the play "Brutus; or, The Fall of Tarquin," also contributed to the development of American theatre.
In the 20th century, the name Payne gained further recognition with the birth of Alexander Payne (b. 1961), an American filmmaker and screenwriter known for critically acclaimed movies such as "Sideways," "The Descendants," and "Nebraska." His works have explored themes of human nature and societal dynamics, earning him numerous accolades, including two Academy Awards.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Payne
People
Payne + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Payne 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
Payne: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Payne?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,233 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Payne 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 277,984 US residents.
Is Payne a common name?
We classify Payne as "Rare". It ranks above 91.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,302 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Payne most popular?
The single biggest year for Payne was 2000, when 121 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Payne is about 23 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Payne in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,341 people with the name Payne, or 0.44 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #10,082 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Payne in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Payne?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Payne leans strongly male. 1,225 people counted with this name were male (91.3%), compared with 116 female bearers (8.7%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Payne?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Payne is White at 79.6%. The next largest groups are Black (8.0%) and Hispanic (4.9%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Payne most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Payne in the 2020 Census, accounting for 79.6% (1,068 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Payne in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Payne a male name?
Yes, 99.2% of people registered as Payne in the SSA data are male. 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.
Is Payne still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Payne in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Payne can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
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.
How common is the name Payne?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people share the name Payne at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.