Mostly girls · peaked in 2010
Payton name popularity since 1925
84,553 babies born in the US from 1925 to 2025 were named Payton (71.0% girls, 29.0% boys). Half of them were born in 2008 or earlier, so the typical Payton is about 18 years old in 2026. Payton peaked in 2010 as the #79 name for girls, and it ranked #440 in 2025.
Key facts
- US babies since 1925
- 84,553
- Named Payton, 1925–2025
- In 2025
- #440
- for girls in 2025 (701 babies)
- Girls / boys
- 71.0% girls
- 60,045 girls · 24,508 boys
- Most popular in
- Idaho
- 2.49× its national share
Peak year is the year Payton made up the largest share of US girls, in records going back to 1880. Typical age is based on births from 1925 on, not on who is living today.
Payton births per year, 1925–2025
The biggest year by count was 2009. Measured as a share of all babies, Payton peaked in 2010.
- Fastest rise: Between 1992 and 1997, Payton became 4.6× more common, from 1 in 6,010 baby girls to 1 in 1,300.
- Steepest fall: Between 2020 and 2025, its share of baby girls fell by 47%, from 1 in 1,210 to 1 in 2,290.
Shaded on the chart. Both compare Payton's share of all US girls five years apart, counting only years with at least 100 babies named Payton.
Decade by decade
Babies named Payton in each decade, and its rank among girls' names in the middle year of the decade (1935, 1945 … 2025).
| Decade | Girls | Boys | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1925–29 | 0 | 84 | – |
| 1930s | 0 | 131 | Under 5 |
| 1940s | 0 | 148 | Under 5 |
| 1950s | 0 | 122 | Under 5 |
| 1960s | 32 | 153 | Under 5 |
| 1970s | 45 | 201 | #10,148 |
| 1980s | 110 | 574 | #5,581 |
| 1990s | 7,219 | 4,800 | #408 |
| 2000s | 23,380 | 12,996 | #158 |
| 2010s | 23,144 | 4,479 | #153 |
| 2020–25 | 6,115 | 820 | #440 |
Ranks count every name given to at least 5 girls that year, so they can go past 1,000. "Under 5" means fewer than 5 girls got the name.
Generation fingerprint
64.9% of babies named Payton from 1925 to 2025 were born in the Gen Z years (1997–2012). The full split by generation:
Where Payton is most popular
The index compares Payton's share of babies in each state with its share nationwide, 1925–2025 (1.50× = 50% more common). States with at least 300 babies named Payton.
| State | Index | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| Idaho | 2.49× | 814 |
| Utah | 2.07× | 1,452 |
| Montana | 1.78× | 429 |
| Washington | 1.77× | 2,437 |
| Nevada | 1.75× | 514 |
Other spellings
Spellings that sound like Payton and were given to at least 1,000 girls from 1925 to 2025, with the year each one was most popular.
| Spelling | Girls | Peak year |
|---|---|---|
| Payton (this page) | 60,045 | 2010 |
| Payten | 3,344 | 2009 |
| Paiton | 1,207 | 2008 |
Names with a similar story
Of the other 1999 names on this site, these six had the share of babies closest in shape to Payton's from 1925 to 2025, however common each one got. Each line is scaled to its own high; the dashed line is Payton.
Names from the same era
Other common names that peaked within two years of Payton (2010).
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration national and state baby-name data, which covers names given to at least 5 babies of one sex in a year. About the data