ninan.org

Walter

Boys' name · Early 20th-century perennial

Living in the US
~225,000 survival-weighted estimate
2025 rank
#251 among boys
Births in 2025
1,381 634,804 since 1880
Typical age
65 years, median

Walter popularity over time

Walter rank by birth year, 1880–2025Walter ranked #13 in 1880 and #251 in 2025. Its best rank in the period was #10, in 1914.#10#100#251best #10 in 191418901920195019802010
Rank among US baby names by birth year, 1880–2025. Lower is more popular; the scale is logarithmic so the top of the chart is not compressed.

More children were named Walter in 1918 than in any other year — 13,418 of them. It appears in the very first year SSA covers, 1880. Across the record, 93 years put Walter in the top 100.

In 2025 it ranked #251 with 1,381 births. Year on year the rank improved by 20.

Babies named Walter per yearPeaks at 13,418 births in 1918.13,418 in 1918018901920195019802010
Recorded US births by year. The peak is labelled; the axis starts at zero.

How many people are named Walter?

About 225,000 people named Walter are alive in the United States today. That is out of 634,804 recorded births since 1880.

This is a survival-weighted estimate, not a headcount: every recorded birth year is multiplied by the chance someone born that year is still alive, using the SSA period life table. How the estimate works.

How old is the average Walter?

Median age among living Walters: 65. Most living bearers were born in the 1950s. By the site’s era rules that makes Walter a early 20th-century perennial name.

Your Walter

Ages of living people named WalterHalf of living Walters are older than 65 and half younger.median 65020406080100
Estimated living bearers by age today. Each bar is a birth year, weighted by the chance someone born then is still alive.

Where Walter is most common

Walter is 3.5× as common in Montana as it is nationally. Minnesota, Maine and District of Columbia follow.

Where Walter is used more than average5 states use the name Walter more than the national average.Alaska: not over-representedAKMaine: 2.7× the national rateMEVermont: not over-representedVTNew Hampshire: not over-representedNHWashington: not over-representedWAIdaho: not over-representedIDMontana: 3.5× the national rateMTNorth Dakota: not over-representedNDMinnesota: 3.2× the national rateMNIllinois: not over-representedILWisconsin: 2.7× the national rateWIMichigan: not over-representedMINew York: not over-representedNYOregon: not over-representedORNevada: not over-representedNVWyoming: not over-representedWYSouth Dakota: not over-representedSDIowa: not over-representedIAIndiana: not over-representedINOhio: not over-representedOHPennsylvania: not over-representedPANew Jersey: not over-representedNJConnecticut: not over-representedCTRhode Island: not over-representedRICalifornia: not over-representedCAUtah: not over-representedUTColorado: not over-representedCONebraska: not over-representedNEMissouri: not over-representedMOKentucky: not over-representedKYWest Virginia: not over-representedWVVirginia: not over-representedVAMaryland: not over-representedMDDelaware: not over-representedDEMassachusetts: not over-representedMAArizona: not over-representedAZNew Mexico: not over-representedNMKansas: not over-representedKSArkansas: not over-representedARTennessee: not over-representedTNNorth Carolina: not over-representedNCSouth Carolina: not over-representedSCDistrict of Columbia: 2.7× the national rateDCOklahoma: not over-representedOKLouisiana: not over-representedLAMississippi: not over-representedMSAlabama: not over-representedALGeorgia: not over-representedGAHawaii: not over-representedHITexas: not over-representedTXFlorida: not over-representedFL
Same as national3× or more
Location quotient, 2016–2025. Shaded states use the name more than the country does, relative to their own births. Exact figures are in the table below.
States where Walter is over-represented, 2016–2025. The location quotient compares the state's share of the name with the national share.
StateBirthsvs national rate
Montana 82 3.5×
Minnesota 572 3.2×
Maine 73 2.7×
District of Columbia 63 2.7×
Wisconsin 456 2.7×

Walter in England and Wales

ONS recorded 127 births named Walter in 2025, ranking it #334. That is 19% lower than five years earlier.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Counts below three are suppressed by ONS.

Where the name Walter comes from

A Germanic name, from Middle English Walter, from Waltier, from Frankish *Waltheri (compare Old High German Waltheri, which see for more details), from Proto-West Germanic *Waldahari, from Proto-Germanic *Waldaharjaz.

Etymology summarised from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0. Wiktionary entry.

Notable people named Walter

Ordered by how many Wikipedia language editions have an article about them — a measure of reach, not of importance.
NameKnown forYearsEditions
Walter Scott Scottish novelist, poet and playwright 1771–1832 139
Walter Benjamin German cultural critic, philosopher and social critic 1892–1940 99
Walter Gropius German-American architect 1883–1969 89
Walter Mondale Vice President of the United States from 1977 to 1981 1928–2021 80
Walter Brattain American physicist 1902–1987 78
Walter Ulbricht German communist politician and dictator 1893–1973 76
Walter Raleigh English statesman, soldier and writer 1552–1618 72
Walter Scheel President of West Germany 1919–2016 70
Photo credits (8)

The sharpest rise. Births under this name jumped from 3,086 in 1911 to 5,848 in 1912 — 1.9 times over in a single year.

Birth records contain the rise and nothing about its cause. This site does not supply one.

People and dates from Wikidata (CC0), limited to those with an English Wikipedia article who are known by this name as their first name.

Names similar to Walter

Matched by sound and spelling inside this dataset, then ordered by total recorded births. This is not a claim about shared etymology.

Related pages

Get this data

Every number on this page is available as JSON: /api/name/walter.json. Free to use with attribution (CC BY 4.0).