Walter
Masculine · “ruler of the army”
Walter is overwhelmingly a boys’ name — 631,172 boys against 3,632 girls since 1880. See Walter as a girl name
Walter is a Germanic name that French could not say. French had no w of its own, and every Germanic name beginning with one came out the other side with a g: Wilhelm became Guillaume, Warin became Guarin, and Walter became Gautier. English ended up with both forms and has treated them as different names ever since.
How old is the name Walter?
Walter was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Walter alive today was born around 1933, making them about 92 years old. About 224,000 people named Walter are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Walter most popular?
Walter peaked in 1914, reaching #10 nationally. Today it ranks #251, 241 places below that high. See the whole 1914 chart.
Where it comes from
From Waldheri to Walter
The story of Walter
The name's most unfortunate bearer set out for Jerusalem before the real armies did. Walter Sansavoir — Walter the Penniless, in English — led part of the People's Crusade, a mass of poorly armed pilgrims who marched across Europe ahead of the knights, fought their way through Hungary, crossed into Asia Minor without waiting for anyone, and were destroyed almost to the last man. He died in the ambush. The name itself did far better: the Normans carried it to England, where it became one of the standard names of the medieval population, then a surname many times over, and eventually a name so ordinary that its Germanic origins were entirely forgotten.
Meaning
ruler of the army
The Germanic waldan, to rule, and heri, an army. The compound is one of the oldest and commonest patterns in the Germanic name stock.
How the name formed
- Waldheri
- Walter
Related forms: Gautier · Gualtiero · Gualterio · Walther · Walter
Pronouncing Walter
WAWL-tur
Two syllables with the weight at the front. German says VAL-ter, and the French and Italian forms are unrecognizable as the same name.
Nicknames for Walter
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
- 1880
- Most boys named
- 191813,338 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #10reached in 1914
- Change vs 2022
- +8.1%1,381 in 2025, from 1,278
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.
Walter in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Gautier in French — same name
- Gualtiero in Italian — same name
- Gualterio in Spanish — same name
- Walther in German — spelling variant
- Walter in Polish — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, Minnesota.
Walters among us
people named Walter are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 1,237 born in 2025 was named Walter
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
Fashion outlook
Walter has held the top-100 across 9 different decades — it has never depended on fashion, and names like that read the same at any age.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Walter is headed
Walter should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
High 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.
Walter beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Walter in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Everyone can spell it and say it on first hearing across the English-speaking world.
- Walt is a short form that has aged better than most of its generation.
- It has an unbroken documented history of more than a thousand years and forms in every western European language.
- It has been common long enough to be entirely unremarkable, which is a strength if you want a name that does not announce itself.
- It is strongly associated with an older generation, though it has begun to return.
- The spelling is recorded for a small number of girls, though it reads overwhelmingly as a boy's name.
- In British English the short form Wally carries a meaning nobody wants.
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Walter
Masculine · #251 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Walters are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 224,000 people named Walter are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Walter in 2025?
- Walter ranks #251 among US boy names in 2025, with 1,381 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Walter?
- About 1 in every 1,237 US boys born in 2025 was named Walter — 1,381 in all.
- Will my child share the name Walter with classmates?
- Walter will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Walter
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Zayn#251 · Harvey#251 · Lane#250 · Louis#249 · Emerson#254 · Cade#248 · Ronan#247 · Nash#255
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Walter? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Walter and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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