Skip to content
Name Lineage

    The surname Walter

    A surname, carried by 48,024 people in the United States.

    Pronounced /ˈwɔltɚ/ 2 syllables Soundex W436 Also a first name

    Walter: #727 of 162,253 surnames in the 2010 US Census #1Smith#160,975Doriott#10Martinez#100Jimenez#10,001Dubon Walter #727, 48,024 people Walter: #727 of 162,253 surnames in the 2010 US Census #1Smith#160,975Doriott#100Jimenez Walter #727, 48,024 people
    Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Walter is more common than 99.6% of them.

    Origin

    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.

    Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

    How common it is

    2010 US Census

    There were 48,024 people named Walter in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 6,429 Americans. That is up 0.9% since 2000, when the Census counted 47,615.

    #727
    rank among US surnames
    48,024
    people in 2010
    16
    per 100,000 Americans
    +0.9%
    change since 2000 (was #651)
    RankSurnamePeople1 in
    #718Keith48,4876,368
    #719Wilkerson48,4446,373
    #720Ahmed48,3196,390
    #721Beard48,2076,405
    #722McClain48,1656,410
    #723Montes48,1426,413
    #724Mata48,1206,416

    Who is named Walter

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

    89% of people named Walter identified as white (not Hispanic), 6.2% as Black (not Hispanic) and 2.3% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

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

    Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

    Famous Walters

    18 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

    • Jessica Walter
      American actress (1941–2021)
    • Harriet Walter
      British actress (born 1950)
    • Tracey Walter
      American actor, born 1947
    • Lisa Ann Walter
      American actress (born 1963)
    • William Grey Walter
      American-born British neuroscientist and roboticist, 1910–1977
    • Anton Walter
      Austrian piano maker, 1752–1826
    • Thomas Walter
      American botanist (c. 1740 - 1789)
    • Mark Walter
      American businessman, born 1960
    • 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, born 1965

    Notable Walters come mostly from the United States (14), the United Kingdom (2) and Austria (1).

    Spellings and sound-alikes

    Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

    Surnames that sound like Walter

    Walter has the Soundex code W436, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code W436.

    Questions

    Where does the surname Walter come from?
    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…
    How common is the surname Walter?
    48,024 people in the United States had the surname Walter in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 6,429 Americans. It ranked 727th of 162,253 surnames.
    What ethnicity is the surname Walter?
    In the 2010 Census, 89% of people named Walter identified as white (not Hispanic), and 6.2% as Black (not Hispanic).
    Who is the most famous person named Walter?
    Jessica Walter, American actress (1941–2021), followed by Harriet Walter.
    Where is the surname Walter most common?
    Wikidata records people named Walter in the United States, the United Kingdom and Austria.
    How do you pronounce Walter?
    Walter is /ˈwɔltɚ/, 2 syllables.
    Is the surname Walter getting more or less common?
    More common. 47,615 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 48,024 in 2010, up 0.9%.
    Is Walter also a first name?
    Yes. Walter 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.