Origin of the Name Peyton
The ancient history of the name
Peyton was found in the allfamilycrests.com archives. Meaning 'the son of Patrick', variants of the name Peyton include Paton, Patten, Patton, Padon, Pate, Patt, Patey, Payton and Paytan. This name is often of Scottish descent spreading to Ireland , England and Wales in early times and is found in many mediaeval manuscripts throughout these countries. Examples of such are a David Paton and Jane Blair, who were married in Saint Georges, Hanover Square, in the year 1774. An Edward Patten and Dorothy Wainforde were granted a marriage in London in the year 1583. The American general George Patton, 1885-1945, traces his line back to Robert Patton, who had emigrated from Scotland , to Virginia, in 1770. In Ireland this name can be of immigrant origin, especially in Ulster Province. Patten and Peyton are both also derived from the native Gaelic O'Peatain sept which is found in records in Ballybofey in County Donegal as early as 1178.
A sept or clan is a collective term describing a group of persons whose immediate ancestors bore a common surname and inhabited the same territory. Irish septs and clans that are related often belong to even larger groups, sometimes called tribes.
The Peyton coat of arms came into existence centuries ago. The process of creating coats of arms (also often called family crests) began in the eleventh century although a form of Proto-Heraldry may have existed in some countries prior to this. The new art of Heraldry made it possible for families and even individual family members to have their very own coat of arms, including all Peyton descendants.