Where the Payne name comes from

Payne is an English family name with its roots in France, where it began as a form of Payen. Its French forms include Payens and Payns. The name crossed to the British Isles with the Norman Conquest of England. Payns is also a town near Troyes, and in 1128 Hugues de Payens left it for London to set up a house for the Knights Templar in England.

In English the name is also recorded as a variant of Paine. It is now common across English-speaking countries. The 2010 United States Census counted 142,601 people named Payne, making it the 195th most common surname in the country.