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    The surname Waldo

    An English patronymic surname, carried by 4,699 people in the United States.

    2 syllables Soundex W430 Also a first name

    Waldo: #7,120 of 162,253 surnames in the 2010 US Census #1Smith#160,975Doriott#10Martinez#100Jimenez#1,000Archer Waldo #7,120, 4,699 people Waldo: #7,120 of 162,253 surnames in the 2010 US Census #1Smith#160,975Doriott#100Jimenez Waldo #7,120, 4,699 people
    Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Waldo is more common than 95.6% of them.

    Origin

    English origin

    English surname, from the obsolete English given name Waltheof, from Old English weald (“power”) + þēof (“thief”), as in "one who snatched victory from battle." Comparable to, or ultimately Anglicized from, the Old Norse equivalent Valthiófr, from vald + *ᚦᛖᚢᛒᚨᛉ (*þeubaʀ). Compare Walthall, Waldie.

    Waldo is a patronymic surname: formed from a father’s (or ancestor’s) given name.

    One of 1,446 English surnames on this site.

    Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

    How common it is

    2010 US Census

    There were 4,699 people named Waldo in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 65,705 Americans. That is up 1.0% since 2000, when the Census counted 4,651.

    #7,120
    rank among US surnames
    4,699
    people in 2010
    1.6
    per 100,000 Americans
    +1%
    change since 2000 (was #6,700)
    RankSurnamePeople1 in
    #7,116Kornegay4,70265,663
    #7,117Rusk4,70165,677
    #7,119Bible4,70065,691
    #7,120Dilworth4,69965,705
    #7,123Bowler4,69865,719

    Who is named Waldo

    Race and Hispanic origin as people reported it in the 2010 Census

    83% of people named Waldo identified as white (not Hispanic), 7.0% as Black (not Hispanic) and 6.8% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

    • White (not Hispanic) 83%
    • Black (not Hispanic) 7.0%
    • Hispanic or Latino (any race) 6.8%
    • Two or more races 1.6%
    • Asian and Pacific Islander 0.9%
    • American Indian and Alaska Native 0.4%

    Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

    Famous Waldos

    1 notable person on Wikidata, most written-about first

    • Janet Waldo
      American actress (1919-2016)

    Spellings and sound-alikes

    Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

    Variant spellings

    • Waldeve
    • Waldef
    • Waltheof

    Surnames that sound like Waldo

    Waldo has the Soundex code W430, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code W430.

    Other English surnames

    All 1,446 English surnames

    Questions

    Where does the surname Waldo come from?
    English surname, from the obsolete English given name Waltheof, from Old English weald (“power”) + þēof (“thief”), as in "one who snatched victory from battle." Comparable to, or ultimately Anglicized from, the Old Norse equivalent Valthiófr, from vald + *ᚦᛖᚢᛒᚨᛉ (*þeubaʀ). Compare Walthall, Waldie.
    How common is the surname Waldo?
    4,699 people in the United States had the surname Waldo in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 65,705 Americans. It ranked 7,120th of 162,253 surnames.
    What ethnicity is the surname Waldo?
    In the 2010 Census, 83% of people named Waldo identified as white (not Hispanic), and 7.0% as Black (not Hispanic).
    Who is the most famous person named Waldo?
    Janet Waldo, American actress (1919-2016).
    Where is the surname Waldo most common?
    Wikidata records people named Waldo in the United States.
    What type of surname is Waldo?
    Waldo is a patronymic surname, formed from a father’s (or ancestor’s) given name.
    Is the surname Waldo getting more or less common?
    More common. 4,651 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 4,699 in 2010, up 1.0%.
    What are other spellings of Waldo?
    Waldeve, Waldef and Waltheof.
    Is Waldo also a first name?
    Yes. Waldo is used as a first name as well as a surname; its first-name page has the meaning and how many babies were given it.