Great Ayton is a village and civil parish in the Hambleton district of North Yorkshire, England, on the edge of the North York Moors.It lies 7 miles (11.3 km) southeast of Middlesbrough and 3 miles (4.8 km) northeast of Stokesley on the border with the unitary authorities of Redcar and Cleveland and Middlesbrough.According to the 2001 census, it has a population of 4,570, increasing to 4629 at the 2011 Census.The name Great Ayton derives from the Old English Ea-tun, tun meaning farm and ea meaning river.