Guyton History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England
Scotland

The lineage of the name Guyton begins with the Anglo-Saxon tribes in Britain. It is a result of when they lived in the area of Cheshire that was referred to as the hill of Gaega, Gaega being an Anglo-Saxon personal name. Guyton is a topographic surname, which was given to a person who resided near a physical feature such as a hill, stream, church, or type of tree.

Another source notes the name could have been a local name having derived from the Viking "geit" + "tun," and literally meant "farmstead where the goats are kept." 1

Early Origins of the Guyton family

The surname Guyton was first found in Lincolnshire where three of the earliest records of the family were listed. The first was Robert de Geiton who was listed there in the Pipe Rolls of 1193 2, the second and third were Ralph de Gayton and Richard de Gayton, both listed there in the Hundredorum Rolls of 1273. 3

Much further to the north in Scotland, Geoffrey de Gaytun was Burgess of Aberdeen in 1275 and Galfridus dictus de Gaytun, appears as a charter witness there in 1231, but this source notes that the name was "of English origin from one or other of several places of the name in England." 4 A migration to Scotland must be presumed.

We discovered a township in Cheshire, a parish in Norfolk; a parish in Northamptonshire; a parish in Staffordshire; and two parishes in Lincolnshire all named Gayton. The Norfolk, Staffordshire and Lincolnshire parishes are listed in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Gaituna, Gaitone and Gettone respectively. 1 5

Early History of the Guyton family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Guyton research. Another 95 words (7 lines of text) covering the years 1200, 1273, 1317, 1608, 1666, 1720, 1744, 1745, 1747, 1754, 1755 and 1787 are included under the topic Early Guyton History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Guyton Spelling Variations

Only recently has spelling become standardized in the English language. As the English language evolved in the Middle Ages, the spelling of names changed also. The name Guyton has undergone many spelling variations, including Gayton, Gaydon, Gaytun, Gaton and others.

Early Notables of the Guyton family

Notables of this surname at this time include: Edmund Gayton (1608-1666), English author, son of George Gayton of Little Britain, London; he was born there 30 Nov. 1608. 6Clark Gayton (1720?-1787?), was a British admiral who after serving as a midshipman in the Squirrel with Captain Peter Warren on the coast of North America, and subsequently as a lieutenant in the West Indies, was promoted by Commodore Knowles to command the Bien Aimé storeship on 12 Aug. 1744. In July 1745...
Another 81 words (6 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Guyton Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Guyton Ranking

In the United States, the name Guyton is the 2,813^rd most popular surname with an estimated 9,948 people with that name. 7

Guyton migration to New Zealand +

Emigration to New Zealand followed in the footsteps of the European explorers, such as Captain Cook (1769-70): first came sealers, whalers, missionaries, and traders. By 1838, the British New Zealand Company had begun buying land from the Maori tribes, and selling it to settlers, and, after the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, many British families set out on the arduous six month journey from Britain to Aotearoa to start a new life. Early immigrants include:

Guyton Settlers in New Zealand in the 19th Century

William Guyton, who landed in Wellington, New Zealand in 1840 aboard the ship Coromandel
William Guyton, who arrived in Wellington, New Zealand aboard the ship "Coromandel" in 1840

Contemporary Notables of the name Guyton (post 1700) +

Walter Guyton (1874-1974), noted American physicist and electrical engineer
Joseph William Guyton (1889-1918), first American soldier killed on German-held soil during World War I
Myron Mynard Guyton (b. 1967), former professional American football defensive back
Gary Guyton (b. 1985), American football linebacker
Arthur James Guyton (b. 1978), American former professional basketball player
Tyree Guyton (b. 1955), American artist
Boone Tarleton Guyton (1913-1996), American Naval Aviation Cadet, experimental test pilot, author and businessman
Arthur Clifton Guyton (1919-2003), American physiologist
Emma Jane Guyton (1825-1887), English novelist
Billy-John Guyton (1990-2023), New Zealand rugby union player who played halfback for provincial side Tasman (2013-2017)
... (Another 1 notables are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Citations +

Mills, A.D., Dictionary of English Place-Names. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-19-869156-4)
Reaney, P.H and R.M. Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames. London: Routledge, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-415-05737-X)
Bardsley, C.W, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames: With Special American Instances. Wiltshire: Heraldry Today, 1901. Print. (ISBN 0-900455-44-6)
Black, George F., The Surnames of Scotland Their Origin, Meaning and History. New York: New York Public Library, 1946. Print. (ISBN 0-87104-172-3)
Lower, Mark Anthony, Patronymica Britannica, A Dictionary of Family Names of the United Kingdom. London: John Russel Smith, 1860. Print.
Smith, George (ed), Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co., 1885-1900. Print
"What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/