Parents who named kids Peyton lament QB's exit

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - With the popularity of Peyton Manning came the popularity of naming a baby Peyton.

And entire generation of children don't know the Colts without Manning.

One local mom personalized the news that Manning and the Colts are reportedly splitting.

"He walked in the door and said, 'Mommy, I guess Peyton's not going to play with the Colts anymore.' And it almost brought tears to my eyes because Peyton Manning is his man, he always has been, said Leigh Ann Stillwell Pruitt, whose 5-year-old son is named Peyton.

Since 1996, the Social Security Administration reports, the popularity of the name Peyton for both boys and girls has surged nationally. Manning had a starring role on the University of Tennessee football team, and was drafted as the No. 1 pick in 1998 by the Colts.

For girls, Peyton went from being the 255th-most-popular name in 1996 to the 51st-most-popular in 2010, the most recent year for which records are available. For boys, it went from 336th-most-popular to 149th-most-popular over the same time period.