How common is the surname Payne?

142,601 people in the United States had the surname Payne in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 2,165 Americans. It ranked 195th of 162,253 surnames.

Who is the most famous person named Payne?

Cecilia Helena Payne Gaposchkin, British-born American astronomer, followed by Alexander Payne.

Where is the surname Payne most common?

Wikidata records people named Payne in the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom and 2 other countries.

How do you pronounce Payne?

Payne is /peɪn/, one syllable.

Is the surname Payne getting more or less common?

More common. 138,028 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 142,601 in 2010, up 3.3%.

The surname Payne

A surname, carried by 142,601 people in the United States.

Pronounced /peɪn/ 1 syllable Soundex P500

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Payne is more common than 99.9% of them.

Origin

An English surname, variant of Paine.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 142,601 people named Payne in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 2,165 Americans. That is up 3.3% since 2000, when the Census counted 138,028.

#195

rank among US surnames

142,601

people in 2010

per 100,000 Americans

+3.3%

change since 2000 (was #183)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#186	Garza	147,005	2,100
#187	Daniels	146,570	2,106
#188	Ferguson	146,426	2,109
#189	Nichols	145,584	2,121
#190	Stephens	144,646	2,134
#191	Soto	144,451	2,137
#192	Weaver	143,837	2,146

Who is named Payne

Race and Hispanic origin as people reported it in the 2010 Census

72% of people named Payne identified as white (not Hispanic), 23% as Black (not Hispanic) and 2.4% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

White (not Hispanic) 72%
Black (not Hispanic) 23%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.4%
Two or more races 2.4%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.6%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.5%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Paynes

39 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Cecilia Helena Payne Gaposchkin
British-born American astronomer, 1900–1979
Alexander Payne
American film director, producer and screenwriter (born 1961)
Ruby Payne-Scott
Australian radio astronomer (1912-1981)
John Payne
American actor (1912–1989)
Marise Payne
Australian politician, born 1964
David Payne
American hurdler, born 1982
Freda Payne
American singer and actress (born 1942)
Stanley George Payne
American historian, born 1934
Cameron Payne
American basketball player (born 1994)
Adreian Payne
American basketball player (1991–2022)
John Howard Payne
American actor and writer (1791-1852)
Thelma Payne
American diver (1896–1988)

Notable Paynes come mostly from the United States (32), Australia (3) and the United Kingdom (2).

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like Payne

Payne has the Soundex code P500, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code P500.

Questions

How common is the surname Payne?: 142,601 people in the United States had the surname Payne in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 2,165 Americans. It ranked 195th of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Payne?: In the 2010 Census, 72% of people named Payne identified as white (not Hispanic), and 23% as Black (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named Payne?: Cecilia Helena Payne Gaposchkin, British-born American astronomer, followed by Alexander Payne.
Where is the surname Payne most common?: Wikidata records people named Payne in the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom and 2 other countries.
How do you pronounce Payne?: Payne is /peɪn/, one syllable.
Is the surname Payne getting more or less common?: More common. 138,028 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 142,601 in 2010, up 3.3%.