Payne Family Crest, Coat of Arms & Payne Name Origin

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Origin of the Name Payne

The origin of the name Payne was found in the allfamilycrests.com archives. Meaning 'the son of Pagen', the name Payne has a number of variants including Pain, Payn, Paine, Payen, Payan and Pyne. This name evolved and has a number of meanings including 'rustic' and 'heathen'. In spite of its un-Christian associations the name was very popular in the Middle Ages. This name is of Anglo-Saxon descent spreading to the Celtic countries of Ireland , Scotland and Wales in early times and is found in many mediaeval manuscripts throughout the above islands. Examples of such are a Robert filius Payn, County Huntingdonshire, who was recorded in the 'Hundred Rolls', England , in the year 1273 and an Elis de Fitz-Payn, who was recorded in the 'Writs of Parliament' in the year 1297. A Thomas Payne was made a 'Freeman of the Plymouth Colony' in 1639 and was founder of a large American family which included Robert Treat Paine, 1731-1814, one of the signatories of the Declaration of Independence. In Ireland the variant Pyne is found mainly in Cork with a few in County Clare and the rest in the other Munster Counties. There are records of six villages named Paynestown in Leinster .