Peyton

Peyton is the transferred use of an English surname ultimately derived from a place name which itself is derived from an ancient, pre-10th century Anglo-Saxon personal name. The Peyton family name is an illustrious one, taken by a Norman-French family who had distinguished themselves at the Battle of Hastings in 1066. As a reward for their valor, William the Conqueror gave large swaths of land and dozens of manors to his war-cronies after conquering England. Peyton Hall was one such Manor, originally referred to as “Pǽga’s settlement”, Pǽga being of uncertain origin, although the meaning “rustic” seems to pop up a lot. From this perspective, Pǽga most likely developed from the Latin “pagus” meaning “country, rural area” (same root that gave us our words “peasant” and “pagan”). Furthermore, in Old Roman military jargon, “paganus” was a term used for a “civilian, incompetent soldier” (which perhaps developed as a leftover nickname in England when the Britannia was a province of the Roman Empire from 1st through 4th centuries A.D.). In any case, Pǽga’s settlement in East Anglia was taken from some poor native Anglo-Saxon chump (whoever he was) and given to one of William the Conqueror’s Norman-French buddies as a war prize. The family eventually adopted the surname Peyton from their family seat at Peyton Hall (as a means of identification). The first recorded spelling of the surname appeared in the 13th century and was rendered as “de Peytun”. A Coat of Arms was granted to this distinguished Anglo-Norman family (under both spellings of Peyton and Payton); a bright gold cross against a black background. Peyton is also an early surname to appear in the New World (early 17th century in the settlement of Virginia). Perhaps Peyton has a “rustic, country-bumpkin”-like origin, the surname became one of the most eminent in England (although they never made the peerage). As a given name, Peyton is considered unisex in the United States, but female in England and Canada.