Declining since 2009, #7,491 for girls today.
Popularity of Payten since 1992
Babies named Payten per year in U.S. Social Security records.
Data table (by decade)
| Decade | Girls | Boys |
|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 287 | 82 |
| 2000s | 1,459 | 339 |
| 2010s | 1,398 | 192 |
| 2020s | 200 | 18 |
Meaning & origin
Payten first appeared on U.S. birth records in 1992. Its most popular year was 2009, after which the name entered a steady decline; by 2025 its rank had fallen to 7,491 and its frequency to 1 in 114,805 births. The trajectory reflects a broader retreat from once-fashionable surname-derived feminine names. Payten has not charted in any state's top choices, remaining a low-frequency alternative to the more common Peyton (which itself peaked at rank 19 in 2010). The spelling with 'ay' rather than 'ey' is characteristic of the early 2000s preference for simplified, phonetic spellings.
Payten is a modern respelling of the surname Peyton or Payton, which originated as a place name in England. The surname derives from Old English 'Pœga's tun', meaning 'Pœga's town or settlement'. As a given name, it gained popularity in the late 20th and early 21st century, especially in the United States, following the trend of using surnames as first names and favoring the 'Pay-' spelling variant.
Nicknames & variants
Nicknames: Pay, Pey
Sibling names for Payten
Names that share Payten's style, for a brother or sister.
