Peyton
Meaning of Peyton
Peyton, pronounced breezily as PAY-tun, sprouted from the Old English “Pæga’s tūn,” a village said to belong to a bold warrior, then caught a green-tinged breeze from its Gaelic cousin Ó Peatáin and sailed west, landing in North America with maracas in one hand and a football in the other. Today the name dances between genders—equally at home on a tutu-twirling niña or a goal-line-charging niño—while its syllables roll off the tongue like a quick cha-cha step. Pop-culture keeps the spotlight bright: NFL legend Peyton Manning throws long-yardage swagger into the mix, TV’s Peyton Sawyer adds guitar-strummed angst, and actress Peyton List wraps it all in Hollywood gloss. Little wonder the name rocketed from the 700s in the ’80s to the Top 100 by the mid-2010s, riding popularity waves faster than a speedboat on the Río Grande. Friendly, sporty, and just exotic enough to raise an eyebrow at the fiesta, Peyton is the kind of name that arrives with confetti, ready for whatever adventure mañana brings.
Pronunciation
American English
- Pronunced as PAY-tun (/ˈpeɪtən/)
British English
- Pronunced as PAY-tun (/ˈpeɪtn̩/)
U.S. Popularity Chart
States Popularity Chart
Notable People Named Peyton
| Peyton Manning is an American former NFL quarterback, a Tennessee star and member of the Manning football family, who led the Colts and Broncos and is widely regarded as one of the greatest. |
| Australian professional wrestler Cassandra Arneill performs as Cassie Lee in TNA and previously competed in WWE as Peyton Royce. |
| Peyton Roi List is an American actress and former child model best known for playing Holly Hills in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid films and Emma Ross on the Disney Channel series Jessie and Bunkd. |
| Kenneth Peyton Barber is an American former running back who played at Auburn, signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as an undrafted free agent in 2016, and later played for the Washington Football Team and Las Vegas Raiders. |
| Peyton Randolph, a Founding Father from a prominent Virginia family, was speaker of the House of Burgesses and president of the First Continental Congress, briefly leading the Second Continental Congress. |
| Peyton Elizabeth Lee is an American actress best known for Disney roles in Andi Mack, Secret Society of Second Born Royals, and Doogie Kamealoha MD. |
| Peyton Krebs is a Canadian center for the Buffalo Sabres who was drafted 17th overall by the Vegas Golden Knights in 2019 and made his NHL debut with Vegas in 2021. |
| Peyton Meyer is an American actor best known as Lucas Friar on Girl Meets World, and he also had a recurring role on Dog with a Blog, starred in the 2021 Netflix film He's All That, and appeared on Days of Our Lives from 2024 to 2025. |
| Peyton Ramsey is an American former quarterback who played college football for the Indiana Hoosiers and Northwestern Wildcats. |
| Peyton Kennedy is a Canadian actor known for Greys Anatomy, Everything Sucks, Odd Squad, and films like The Captive, American Fable, and Lavender. |
| Peyton Randolph was a Virginia Democratic Republican who briefly served as acting governor in late 1811 and early 1812. |
| Peyton Alex Smith is an American actor known for playing Damon Sims in All American Homecoming, Rafael Waithe in Legacies, and Cedric Hobbs in The Quad. |
