Show ContentsHayton History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Hayton is a name whose history is connected to the ancient Anglo-Saxon tribes of Britain. The name is derived from when the Hayton family once lived in or near the settlement of Heighton in the county of Sussex. The surname is thought to derive from one of several place names composed of the old English elements "heah" or "high" and "tun," meaning "enclosure or settlement." The surname Hayton belongs to the large category of Anglo-Saxon habitation names, which are derived from pre-existing names for towns, villages, parishes, or farmsteads.

Early Origins of the Hayton family

The surname Hayton was first found in Sussex where the first record of the name is John atte Heghetun who was mentioned in the Subsidy Rolls for Sussex in 1296. Today Hightown is a village and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside but originally part of Cheshire. [1] However, other references list Hightown in what was formerly Lancashire. "The Huytons of Billinge held land [in Skelmersdale, Lancashire] as early as 1307." [2]

Early History of the Hayton family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Hayton research. Another 100 words (7 lines of text) covering the years 1273, 1279 and 1296 are included under the topic Early Hayton History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Hayton Spelling Variations

Sound was what guided spelling in the essentially pre-literate Middle Ages, so one person's name was often recorded under several variations during a single lifetime. Also, before the advent of the printing press and the first dictionaries, the English language was not standardized. Therefore, spelling variations were common, even among the names of the most literate people. Known variations of the Hayton family name include Heighton, Highton, Huyton and others.

Early Notables of the Hayton family

More information is included under the topic Early Hayton Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Hayton Ranking

In the United States, the name Hayton is the 17,317th most popular surname with an estimated 2,487 people with that name. [3]


United States Hayton migration to the United States +

For political, religious, and economic reasons, thousands of English families boarded ships for Ireland, Canada, the America colonies, and many of smaller tropical colonies in the hope of finding better lives abroad. Although the passage on the cramped, dank ships caused many to arrive in the New World diseased and starving, those families that survived the trip often went on to make valuable contributions to those new societies to which they arrived. Early immigrants bearing the Hayton surname or a spelling variation of the name include:

Hayton Settlers in United States in the 17th Century
  • Henry Hayton, who arrived in Maryland in 1679 [4]
Hayton Settlers in United States in the 18th Century
  • William Hayton, who arrived in New England in 1738 [4]
Hayton Settlers in United States in the 19th Century
  • John Hayton, aged 27, who landed in New York in 1812 [4]

Canada Hayton migration to Canada +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Hayton Settlers in Canada in the 18th Century
  • George Hayton, who landed in Nova Scotia in 1774

Australia Hayton migration to Australia +

Emigration to Australia followed the First Fleets of convicts, tradespeople and early settlers. Early immigrants include:

Hayton Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century
  • Mr. William Hayton, English convict who was convicted in Lindsey (parts of Lindsey), Lincolnshire, England for 7 years, transported aboard the "Baring" in December 1818, arriving in New South Wales, Australia [5]
  • Evan Hayton, English convict from Lancaster, who was transported aboard the "Adelaide" on April 16, 1855, settling in Western Australia [6]

New Zealand Hayton 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:

Hayton Settlers in New Zealand in the 19th Century
  • Mr. William Hayton, (b. 1822), aged 34, British labourer travelling from London aboard the ship "Isabella Hercus" arriving in Lyttelton, Christchurch, South Island, New Zealand on 4th January 1856 [7]
  • Mr. Edward Hayton, (b. 1820), aged 38, British stonemason travelling from Gravesend aboard the ship "Mystery" arriving in Lyttelton, Christchurch, South Island, New Zealand on 29th March 1859 [7]
  • Mr. James Hayton, (b. 1853), aged 11, British settler travelling from Gravesend, UK aboard the ship "British Empire" arriving in Lyttelton, South Island, New Zealand on 6th September 1864 [7]

Contemporary Notables of the name Hayton (post 1700) +

  • William Hayton, American Republican politician, Delegate to Republican National Convention from Washington, 1924 (alternate), 1928 [8]
  • Charles Hayton, American politician, Candidate for New York State Assembly from Monroe County 1st District, 1921 [8]
  • Leonard George "Lennie" Hayton (1908-1971), American composer, conductor and arranger
  • Ms. Nichola Margaret Valerie Hayton M.B.E., British recipient of Member of the Order of the British Empire on 8th June 2018, for services to UK/Germany relations [9]
  • Brigadier Alexander Alfred Hayton VD, DSO,, South African officer, lieutenant in the East African Campaign and in Egypt
  • J.S. Hayton (b. 1962), New Zealand field assistant in the New Zealand Federated Mountain Clubs Antarctic Expedition, 1962–63, eponym of Mount Hayton, Antarctica
  • Philip Hayton, British BBC television presenter
  • Thomas Hayton Mawson (1861-1933), British garden designer, landscape architect, and town planner
  • Herbert Hayton Castens (b. 1864), former South African rugby union footballer, and cricketer

HMS Hood
  • Mr. John W Hayton (b. 1919), Scottish Able Seaman serving for the Royal Navy from Carlisle, Cumberland, Scotland, who sailed into battle and died in the HMS Hood sinking [10]


  1. Mills, A.D., Dictionary of English Place-Names. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-19-869156-4)
  2. 'Townships: Scarisbrick', in A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 3, ed. William Farrer and J Brownbill (London, 1907), pp. 265-276. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/lancs/vol3/pp265-276 [accessed 21 January 2017].
  3. "What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
  4. Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)
  5. Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 16th September 2020). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/baring
  6. State Library of Queensland. (Retrieved 2014, November 17) Adelaide voyage to Western Australia, Australia in 1855 with 261 passengers. Retrieved from http://www.convictrecords.com.au/ships/adelaide/1855
  7. New Zealand Yesteryears Passenger Lists 1800 to 1900 (Retrieved 17th October 2018). Retrieved from http://www.yesteryears.co.nz/shipping/passlist.html
  8. The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2016, June 10) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html
  9. "Birthday and New Year Honours Lists (1940 to 2019)." Issue 62310, 31 October 2019 | London Gazette, The Gazette, June 2018, https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/62310/supplement/B1
  10. H.M.S. Hood Association-Battle Cruiser Hood: Crew Information - H.M.S. Hood Rolls of Honour, Men Lost in the Sinking of H.M.S. Hood, 24th May 1941. (Retrieved 2016, July 15) . Retrieved from http://www.hmshood.com/crew/memorial/roh_24may41.htm


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