Walter
Top 1000
About Walter
Walter was seen as a noble name in the Sir Walter Raleigh and Sir Walter Scott era, but it then spent decades in baby name limbo. Now quite a few independent-minded parents are looking at it as a renewable, slightly quirky, classic, stronger and more distinctive than James or John, second only to William among the handsome classic boy baby names starting with W.
A favorite Norman name, Walter was extremely popular in medieval England, where it was pronounced "Water" and a common short form was Wat. In the US, Walter's heyday was from the 1870s through the 1940s.
The recent popularity of Breaking Bad has brought us Walter White, conferring on the name Walter a new kind of cool and prompting a fresh wave of popularity.Plus there are all those great Walters and Walts to consider, from Whitman to Disney to Cronkite to Mondale to Payton to Matthau. And then there's the ultimate fantasizer Walter Mitty, not to mention (Walter) Bruce Willis. Recently, actor Rainn Wilson named his son Walter.
Short forms include Walt, Wally, and the antiquated Wat.
As of October 2026, Walter ranked #252 in US births in 2025 SSA, peaked at #10 in 1914, Nameberry popularity #143.
Editor's take: The name Walter is a boy's name of German origin meaning "army ruler".
Popularity & trends
Data table
| Year | US rank | Births | Per million |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | #337 | 987 | 513.8 |
| 2015 | #309 | 1,157 | 603.6 |
| 2016 | #302 | 1,172 | 617.6 |
| 2017 | #265 | 1,366 | 738 |
| 2018 | #271 | 1,313 | 723 |
| 2019 | #278 | 1,282 | 714.5 |
| 2020 | #272 | 1,240 | 718.4 |
| 2021 | #271 | 1,281 | 732.2 |
| 2022 | #269 | 1,278 | 732 |
| 2023 | #267 | 1,274 | 744.8 |
| 2024 | #271 | 1,264 | 733.7 |
| 2025 | #252 | 1,381 | 808.5 |
World rankings
Similar names
These 20 names were selected by our users looking for other names like Walter.
- Alfred
- Albert
- Frederick
- Ralph
- Rupert
- Francis
- Hugh
- Franklin
- Ernest
- Edwin
- Harold
- Stanley
- Edgar
- Frank
- Bernard
- George
- Louis
- Eugene
- Leonard
- Lawrence
Walter on lists
Famous Walters
- Walter Elias "Walt" Disney
American film producer and icon
- Walter "Walt" Whitman
American poet
- Walter Leland Cronkite
American journalist
- Walter Inglis Anderson
American painter
- Walter Benjamin
German social and cultural theorist
- Walter Perry Johnson
American baseball pitcher
- Walter Chauncey Camp
American football player and coach
- Walter Kirn
American novelist
- Walter Frederick "Fritz" Mondale
42nd Vice President of the United States
- (Walter) Bruce Willis
American actor
- Sir Walter Raleigh
English explorer
- Walter Benjamin Lantz
American creator of Woody Woodpecker
- Walter Scott
Scottish historical novelist
- Walter Matthau (born Walter John Matthow)
American actor
- Walter Kohn
Austrian,American theoretical physicist and Nobel Prize winner
- (Lionel) Walter Rothschild
2nd Baron Rothschild, British MP and zoologist
- Walter Adolph Georg Gropius
German founder of Bauhaus architecture
- Walter Heinrich Heitler
German physicist
- Walter Hermann Schottky
German physicist
- Walter "Wally" Schirra
American astronaut
- Walter Grauman
American TV, film, and stage director
- Walter Payton
former American football player
- Walter Ray Williams
Jr., Professional Bowler and Horseshoe Pitcher
- Walter "Walt" Flanagan
actor and star of AMC's Comic Book Men
- Walter Liberace
American entertainer and pianist
- Walter Wick
Author and Photographer of "Can You See What I See?" Book Series.
- Walter Martin
Famous American Baptist Minister, Christian Apologist, known as "The Bible Answer Man"
Walter in pop culture
- Walter Longmire
From the TV show Longmire & The books by Craig Johnson
- Walter White Sr. and Jr.
characters on TV's "Breaking Bad"
- Walter Sherman
character on TV show "The Finder"
- Walter Bishop
character on TV's 'Fringe'
- Walter Mitty
main character in book/film "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty"
- Walter Blythe
son of Anne and Gilbert Blythe in the "Anne of Green Gables" series
- Walter Sullivan
character in the game "Silent Hill 4: The Room"
- Walter Sobchak
character in movie "The Big Lebowski"
- Walter William Clark
NYPD homicide detective in "Golden Boy"
- Walter Skinner
character on "X,Files"
- Walter
Muppet character
- Walter
character in the film "Secondhand Lions"
- Walter Neff
main character in film noir 'Double Indemnity' (1944)
- Walter
character in film Zathura
- Walter Dinsmore
Elsie Dinsmore's uncle in Elsie Dinsmore series
- Walter Davenant
main character in G. A. Henty's, Orange and Green
- Walter Travilla
Elsie Dinsmore Travilla's son in the Elsie Dinsmore series
- Walter Somers
main character in G. A. Henty's, St. George for England
- Walter "Walt" Lloyd
character from TV's LOST
- Walter Steele
character in DC Universe
- Walter Mabry
character in the movie "Now You See Me 2"
- Walter Nelson
character in the film "Minions"
- Walter
character from "On the Road"
- Walter O'Brien
character in CBS show 'Scorpion'
- Waltolomew "Walter" Strickler
character in the Netflix series "Trollhunters"
- Walter Lee Younger
character in Lorraine Hansberry's Play "A Raisin in the Sun"
- Walter J. Chapman
character in the 2004 Film "Garfield The Movie" Walter is the brother of
- Walter Peck
character in the 1984 Film "Ghostbusters"
- Walter Blunt
main character in the sitcom "Blunt Talk" Walter Blunt the British newscaster was played by Patrick Stewart
- "Walter Lesly"
A ballad in the 19th century collection "The Child Ballads"
- Walter Finch
character in video game “What Remains of Edith Finch”
Variations & nicknames
- BhaltairScottish Gaelic
- GutierreSpanish
- WoulterScandinavian
- WaltrCzech
- GautierFrench
- WouterDutch
- GualterioSpanish
- GualtieroItalian
- WaldemarLithuanian
- WalderGerman
- VovkaRussian
- WaltonGerman
- WolterScandinavian
- ValterScandinavian
- DimaRussian
- GautherFrench
- ValtrCzech
- WalliGerman
- VolyaRussian
- VladkoCzech
- LandislausPolish
- WeitDutch
- WaltenGerman
- DimkaRussian
- WaltherGerman
- VladimirRussian
- WaltiliGerman
- GwallterWelsh
More nicknames
- Walt
- Wally