Walt
Masculine · “ruler of the army”
Walt is the American short form of Walter, and Walter is Germanic: the ruler of the army. It has been registered as a name in its own right for well over a century.
How old is the name Walt?
Walt first appears in US birth records in 1893 — 132 years ago. The typical Walt alive today was born around 1961, making them about 64 years old. About 1,800 people named Walt are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Walt most popular?
Walt peaked in 1959, reaching #838 nationally. Today it ranks #3314, 2,476 places below that high. See the whole 1959 chart.
Where it comes from
From Waldhar to Walt
The story of Walt
Waldhar was a continental Germanic name that the Normans carried into England, and it became one of the standard medieval English men's names — Chaucer's world is full of Walters. English clipped it to Wat in the Middle Ages and to Walt in America. The short form has been in the records under its own name since the nineteenth century, and it belongs to the same American generation as Hank, Gus and Sam.
Meaning
ruler of the army
From Germanic wald, to rule, and heri, an army; Norman settlers brought the name to England as Walter, where it displaced most of the native English stock after 1066.
How the name formed
- Waldhar
- Walter
- Walt
Related forms: Walther · Gualtiero · Gualterio · Wouter
Pronouncing Walt
WAWLT
One syllable. There is no variation.
Nicknames for Walt
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1893
- Most boys named
- 195981 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #838reached in 1959
- Change vs 2023
- −22.2%35 in 2025, from 45
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Walt in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Walther in German — related form
- Gualtiero in Italian — related form
- Gualterio in Spanish — related form
- Wouter in Dutch — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, Tennessee, Alabama.
Walts among us
people named Walt are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 48,802 born in 2025 was named Walt
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Hilario test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Walt's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Hilario climbed just as high around 1929, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Hilario's path sketches the road Walt is walking now.
Walt sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Walt is headed
Walt should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
Medium confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Walt beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Walt in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A settled meaning inherited from a name with a thousand years of English use.
- One syllable and four letters — as short and plain as a name gets.
- Walter stands behind it as a fuller formal option.
- It reads as a nickname to some people, which may matter on a formal document.
- It is strongly associated with a particular era of American life.
- A well-known television character of the same name has shaped the association for one generation.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
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Walt
Masculine · #3314 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Walts are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,800 people named Walt are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Walt in 2025?
- Walt ranks #3314 among US boy names in 2025, with 35 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Walt?
- About 1 in every 48,802 US boys born in 2025 was named Walt — 35 in all.
- Will my child share the name Walt with classmates?
- Walt will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Walt
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Rainier#3314 · Coulter#3314 · Caio#3314 · Kaydon#3314 · Daksh#3314 · Kree#3314 · Calen#3314 · Mathis#3314
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Walt? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Walt and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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Weighing a whole shortlist? Add the rest in the builder, or settle it with a bracket.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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