How Many People Are Named Payson?
An estimated 2,483 people in the United States have the first name Payson. It is used for both genders, with 55.6% male. The average bearer is 13 years old, and Payson peaked in popularity in 2012 with 171 births that year.
Below you will find a full statistical profile of Payson as a first name in the United States, including gender data, a year-by-year popularity timeline going back to 1880, a decade breakdown, and state-by-state birth registrations. You can also check how many people share the full name Payson paired with any surname.
Key Insights
- Payson is a genuinely unisex name, given to both boys and girls in roughly equal numbers.
- Payson is a modern name. With an average bearer age of just 13, it has gained most of its popularity in recent years.
Estimated Living Americans
2,483
About 1 in 138,040 people in the U.S.
Rarity
Rare
Predicted Gender
Male
55.6% confidence
Average Age
13
years old
Peak Year
2012
171 births
Total Registered
2,528
since 1880
Gender Distribution for Payson
Payson is a genuinely unisex name, used for both males (55.6%) and females (44.4%). Out of 2,528 total births registered, 1,406 were male and 1,122 were female.
Payson as a male name
Ranked #2,649 in 2024
50 male births in 2024
Peak: 2015 (78 births)
Payson as a female name
Ranked #3,934 in 2024
38 female births in 2024
Peak: 2011 (116 births)
Payson: Popularity Over Time
SSA records for Payson span from the 1910s to the 2020s, covering 9 decades of naming data. The most popular decade for this name was the 2010s, when 1,367 babies were registered. While Payson is less common than at its peak in the 2010s, it remains a well-established name with steady registrations.
Payson by Decade
How has Payson tracked across different eras? The table below groups all SSA birth registrations into 10-year periods, with separate male and female counts. The colored bar shows each decade's share relative to the peak.
Payson by State
Birth registrations for Payson span all 20 states and territories in the SSA database. The highest counts are in Arizona, Utah, Texas. The lowest are in Virginia, Indiana, Louisiana. On average, about 29 Paysons were registered per state.
Payson + Last Name Combinations
How many people share a full name with Payson as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Names Similar to Payson
Other first names starting with P with a similar number of bearers.
Payson: Questions and Answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Payson?
We estimate approximately 2,483 people named Payson are alive in the United States today. This is based on SSA birth records from 1880 to 2024, adjusted for mortality using CDC life tables. About 1 in 138,040 Americans share this first name.
Is Payson a common name?
Payson is classified as "Rare" and is more popular than 94.5% of all first names in the SSA database. A total of 2,528 births have been registered with this name since 1880.
When was Payson most popular?
Payson reached peak popularity in 2012, when 171 babies were given this name. The average age of a living person named Payson is approximately 13 years old, reflecting when the name was most commonly given.
Is Payson a male name?
Payson is predominantly male. 55.6% of people with this name are male. See the gender breakdown above for full details.
How many Payson Smiths are there?
To find how many people share a specific full name, we combine first name and surname frequencies. Try: Payson Smith, Payson Johnson, Payson Williams. You can also search any combination on our homepage.
Where does this data come from?
Our estimates use Social Security Administration birth records (1880 to 2024), adjusted for survival using CDC 2023 life tables broken down by sex. The U.S. population figure (342,754,338) is from the Census Bureau's July 2025 estimate. Full methodology.
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