An English surname of Clayton comes from the Old English term ‘clg’ which means clay and the ‘tun’ term meaning settlement. The various spellings of Clayton include Clawton, Claydon, and Claughton. The northern England in Lancashire county is where many Clayton families originated. Many others are in Yorkshire and Staffordshire. The Clayton families of Scotland lived in the central and southern regions especially in the Lanarkshire county. In the United States the Clayton families mostly reside in California, New York, New Jersey, Georgia, Texas, Mississippi, Alabama, Illinois, Ohio, North Carolina and Tennessee. Famous: Henry DeLamar Clayton (Confederate General during the Civil War), Mark Clayton (professional football player), (architect from New Zealand), Jay Clayton (jazz singer), Royce Clayton (professional baseball player) and Beth Clayton (soprano singer).