[2] When Oghuz Turks started to migrate from the Aral steppes to Khorasan in the 11th and 13th centuries, Bayat people spread throughout the region.

In the book of the Khan and historian of the Khiva Khanate, Abu al-Ghazi Bahadur, "Genealogy of the Turkmens," the meaning of the name of the tribe is given as "rich".

When Bayat clan started to migrate from the Aral steppes, their first destination was the city of Nishapur in the south of Khorasan, a state in the north-east of Iran.

Bayats are spread far into western Anatolia, their principal areas of settlement being in the provinces of Konya, Bursa, Afyon, Balıkesir and Kütahya.

Bayat is a common surname today in Iran, Azerbaijan and to a lesser extent in Turkey, Afghanistan, and Turkmenistan where it carries the meaning "Knight" or "Chevalier".