# Walter (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/walter/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. Counts from the US Census Bureau; origin and etymology from Wiktionary; bearers from Wikidata. Data updated 2026-11-11.

A surname.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | not recorded |
| Type | not recorded |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 48,024 |
| US rank (2010) | 727 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 6,429 people |
| Change since 2000 | +0.9% (47,615 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | /ˈwɔltɚ/, 2 syllables |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |

## Etymology

A Germanic name, from Middle English Walter, from Old Northern French Waltier, from Frankish *Waltheri (compare Old High German Waltheri, which see for more details), from Proto-West Germanic *Waldahari, from Proto-Germanic *Waldaharjaz, from *waldą (“ruler”) + *harjaz (“army, host”). Related to Old English Waldhere. Compare herald and Harold, in which these elements are reversed.

## Who carries it

Share of people named Walter in the 2010 US Census by the Census's own race and ethnicity groups. The Census suppresses a share when the count behind it is small.

| Group | Share |
|---|---|
| White (not Hispanic) | 89% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 6.2% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 2.3% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.9% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.5% |
| Two or more races | 1.4% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Walter in the United States, the United Kingdom and Austria.

## People named Walter

- Jessica Walter, American actress (1941–2021)
- Harriet Walter, British actress (born 1950)
- Tracey Walter, American actor
- Lisa Ann Walter, American actress (born 1963)
- William Grey Walter, American-born British neuroscientist and roboticist
- Anton Walter, Austrian piano maker
- Thomas Walter, American botanist (c. 1740 - 1789)
- Mark Walter, American businessman
- Martha Walter, American painter (1875-1976)
- Thomas Ustick Walter, American architect (1804–1887)
- Ja'Kobe Walter, American basketball player (born 2004)
- Jess Walter, American writer

and 6 more on Wikidata.

## Similar surnames

Welter, Wolter, Walder, Walters, Waldron, Waldrop, Walther, Wolters, Waldrep, Waldorf, Waldrip, Waltrip.

## How to read these numbers

A Census count is people alive and counted in 2010, not births, and names occurring fewer than 100 times are not published at all. Ethnicity shares are the Census's own categories.