Allan Hayton studied theatre and film at Haskell Indian Nations University and the University of Kansas, finishing his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1992. He continued studies at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, graduating spring 2013 with a Master of Arts in Applied Linguistics.

Hayton is the son of Lena Pauline Hayton from Fort Yukon, Alaska, and James T. Hayton from Natick, Massachusetts. He was raised in Arctic Village, Alaska, and his grandparents are Robert and Lena Albert from Tanana and Fort Yukon, Alaska. Allan works closely with nine Athabascan languages of Interior Alaska as the Language Program Director for the Doyon Foundation.