Payten
A variant of the English name Peyton, meaning "estate guard" or "warrior".
Name Census estimates that about 3,913 living Americans carry the first name Payten. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 84.1% of registrations being female. The average person named Payten today is around 17 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Payten births was 2009 (343 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Payten. 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.
Key insights
- • Payten is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 17 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
3.9K
~ 1 in 87,594 Americans
Peak year
2009
343 babies that year
Average age
17
years old
2024 SSA rank
#7,150
Tracked since 1992
Gender
Gender distribution for Payten
Payten leans heavily female at 84.1% of total registrations, but 631 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Payten as a male name
- Ranked #13,687 in 2024
- 5 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2007 (51 births)
Payten as a female name
- Ranked #7,150 in 2024
- 16 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2009 (310 births)
Popularity
Payten: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Payten from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 1,798 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
Payten 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 Payten during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Paytens live
The SSA's state-level files cover 36 states and territories. Texas, California, Ohio recorded the most babies named Payten, while Nebraska, North Dakota, Mississippi recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 52 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Payten
The given name Payten is believed to have originated from the Old English language, with its roots tracing back to the Anglo-Saxon period in Britain, spanning from the 5th to the 11th century AD. The name is derived from the Old English word "pægan," which means "pagan" or "heathen." It is thought to have been used as a descriptive name for those who followed the ancient pagan religions of the region before the widespread adoption of Christianity.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Payten can be found in the Domesday Book, a comprehensive record of landholdings and taxation commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086 AD. The name appears as "Pagtinus," which is believed to be an early variant spelling of Payten.
In the 12th century, a notable figure named Payten de Cestria, also known as Payten of Chester, was a prominent scholar and writer in England. He was born around 1092 AD and is known for his works on philosophy and theology, which were influential during the medieval period.
Another historical figure bearing the name Payten was Sir Payten Sutton, a knight who fought in the Hundred Years' War between England and France during the 14th century. He was born in 1320 AD and is recorded as having participated in several battles, including the Battle of Crecy in 1346.
In the realm of literature, one noteworthy individual with the name Payten was the English poet Payten Marshe, who lived during the 16th century. He was born in 1549 AD and is known for his contributions to the Elizabethan era of poetry in England.
Lastly, a prominent figure in the history of exploration was Payten Philips, an English navigator and explorer who sailed with Sir Walter Raleigh on his expeditions to the Americas in the late 16th century. Philips was born in 1561 AD and played a significant role in the early English colonization efforts in what is now North Carolina.
While the name Payten has ancient roots and has been documented throughout various historical periods, it is important to note that these examples are based on historical records and may not necessarily reflect the most comprehensive or accurate representations of individuals bearing this name.
People
Payten + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Payten 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
Payten: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Payten?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 3,913 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Payten 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 87,594 US residents.
Is Payten a common name?
We classify Payten as "Rare". It ranks above 95.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 3,961 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Payten most popular?
The single biggest year for Payten was 2009, when 343 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Payten is about 17 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Payten a female name?
Yes, 84.1% of people registered as Payten 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.