- The earliest known documentation of the name Peyton: The Little Domesday Book, 1087
- The name of a place near Ramsholt on the Deben River Estuary in Suffol, earlier known as Peaga's Tum.
- Tun is a Saxon word meaning house, farm, or enclosed place.
- Reginald de Peyton , Lord of Peyton Hall was the first to adopt the surname, taking it from the family property as was the custom at that time.