How Many People Are Named Walter?
people named Walter are alive in the United States today (estimate)
About 1 in 1,595 people in the US has this name
Based on 634,804 babies named Walter in Social Security records from 1880 to 2025, and the share of each birth year still alive in 2025.
Popularity Rank
⭐ Uncommon
Peak Year
13,418 births
Trend
Stable (last 10 years)
📖 Name Origin & Meaning
Meaning:
From a Germanic name meaning "ruler of the army", composed of the elements wald "rule" and hari "army". The Normans brought it to England, where it replaced the Old English cognate Wealdhere. A famous bearer of the name was Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832), a Scottish novelist who wrote 'Ivanhoe' and other notable works.
Source of the meaning, origin, pronunciation and related names: Behind the Name.
⚧ Gender Distribution
Of the babies given the name Walter, 0.6% were girls and 99.4% were boys.
👥 Age Distribution
The average person named Walter alive today is about 58 years old, and 58% are 60 or older. Half of them were between 45 and 75 in 2025.
📈 Popularity Over Time
Walter first appears in the records in 1880 and was given most often in 1918, to 13,418 babies. In 2025, 1,381 babies got the name.
Babies given the name each year, 1880 to 2025
🏆 Rank History
Walter reached #10 among boys' names in 1914, and was in the top 10 in 1914. In 2025 it ranked #252.
| Boys | |
|---|---|
| Rank in 2025 | #252 |
| Best rank | #10 (1914) |
| Years in the top 10 | 1 |
| Years in the top 100 | 93 (1880 to 1972) |
| Rank in its biggest decade | #16 in the 1920s |
📍 State-Wise Distribution
People named Walter alive today, by the state where they were born (estimate; state records start in 1910).
More people named Walter were born in New York than in any other state: about 17,252 of those alive today. Compared with the national rate in the same years, Walter was given 1.9 times as often in Alaska, 1.5 times in Delaware and 1.5 times in Mississippi.
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