Walter (name)

Walter, Walther
	Walther fighting Hartunc
Pronunciation	val-ter, (Walter, German) valt-her (Walther, German) walt-er (Walter, English)
Gender	Male
Origin
Word/name	Old High German
Meaning	powerful warrior, forest warrior
Region of origin	Northern Europe
Other names
Nickname(s)	Wally, Walt
Related names	Valter, Valtyr, Wouter, Gauthier, Gualtiero, Gutierre, Valtteri

Walter or Walther is a German masculine given name derived from Old High German Walthari, composed of the elements walt- (Proto-Germanic *wald-) "power", "forest" and hari (Proto-Germanic *χarja) "warrior".[1]

The name was first popularized by the famous epic German hero Walther von Aquitaine and later with the writer Walther von der Vogelweide.

The name is first recorded the 6th century, with Walthari son of Wacho, who was king of the Lombards during 539–546. Old High German forms are recorded as Walthari, Waltari, Walthar, Waltar, Waltere, Waldheri, Waldhere, Waltheri, Walthere, Walther, Walter, Waldher, and Valter. The Old English equivalent is Wealdhere, Old Norse has Valðar and Valdarr.[2]

The name entered the French language as Gauthier, Spanish as Gutierre and Italian as Gualtiero. The modern Dutch form of the name is Wouter. The German name has also been adopted in a number of languages in the spelling Valter.

The Latinized form is Waltharius, the title of a poem of the late 9th or early 10th century on the legendary Gothic king Walter of Aquitaine. A fragmentary Old English poem on the same character is known as Waldere. Jacob Grimm in Teutonic Mythology speculates that Walthari, literally "wielder of hosts", may have been an epithet of the god of war, Ziu or Eor, and that the circumstance that the hero of the Waltharius poems loses his right hand in battle may be significant, linking him to the Norse tradition of Tyr.

Geographical distribution

As of 2014, 43.5% of all known bearers of the surname Walter were residents of Germany (frequency 1:643), 23.4% of the United States (1:5,374), 5.0% of Nigeria (1:12,307), 4.0% of France (1:5,814), 2.0% of Austria (1:1,467), 1.9% of England (1:10,157), 1.8% of Brazil (1:38,529), 1.6% of Australia (1:5,113), 1.4% of Angola (1:6,511), 1.3% of Canada (1:9,641), 1.3% of Switzerland (1:2,176), 1.2% of Ghana (1:7,682), 1.1% of Argentina (1:13,353), 1.0% of Poland (1:12,776) and 1.0% of South Africa (1:19,181).

In Germany, the frequency of the surname was higher than national average (1:643) in the following states:[3]

Baden-Württemberg (1:386)
Bremen (1:422)
Brandenburg (1:450)
Hesse (1:526)
Saxony-Anhalt (1:539)
Rhineland-Palatinate (1:599)
Thuringia (1:603)
Bavaria (1:606)
Saxony (1:621)
Saarland (1:627)

Given name

Walter, Count of Rethel (died 1262), French nobleman
Walter (abbot of Evesham) or Walter de Cerisy (died 1104), English church leader
Walter (archbishop of Sens) (fl.887–923), French church leader
Walter (bishop of Rochester) (died 1182), English church leader
Walter (bishop of Wrocław) (fl.1149–1169), Episcopal Walloon
Walter W. Arndt (1916–2011), German-American translator
Walter Lewis Baily, Jr. (1930–2013), American mathematician
Walter Bender (born 1956), president of One Laptop Per Child Software and Content
Walter Bender (Canadian football) (born 1961), American player of gridiron football
Walter Blackman, American Republican member of the Arizona House of Representatives
Walter von Brockdorff-Ahlefeldt, German general (General of the Infantry) during World War II, one of the principal commanders of Demyansk Pocket
Walter de Coutances (died 1207), Archbishop of Rouen and Chief Justiciar of England
Walter von Cronberg, 38th Grand Master of the Teutonic Order
Walter Cronkite (1916–2009), American journalist
Walter Clements, Internet Meme of a white bull terrier staring into the camera, often declaring “I like fire trucks and moster [monster] trucks. Walter.”
Walter Crucce, Argentine boxer
Walter Day (born 1949), American businessman, musician, & retired video game referee
Walter Devereux, 1st Earl of Essex (1541-1576)
Walter "Walt" Disney (1901-1966), American film producer, animator, voice actor and entrepreneur, pioneer of the American animation industry
Walter Duranty (1884–1957), Anglo-American journalist
Walter Eisfeld (1905–1940), German Nazi SS commandant of Sachsenhausen concentration camp
Walter Feit (1930–2004), American mathematician
Walter Fernando, Sri Lankan Sinhala air chief marshal, Commander of the Sri Lanka Air Force from 1986-1991
Walter fitz Gilbert of Cadzow, medieval Scottish nobleman
Walter fitz Alan, twelfth-century Scottish magnate and Steward of Scotland
Walter Forster (disambiguation)
Walter Flanagan, host of the Tell 'Em Steve-Dave and star of AMC's Comic Book Men
Walter Gericke, German paratroop officer in the Luftwaffe of Nazi Germany during World War II and a general in the Bundeswehr of West Germany
Walter Godefroot, retired Belgian road bicycle racer and cycling team manager
Walter Gropius, (1883-1969), German architect and founder of the Bauhaus School, widely regarded as one of the pioneering masters of modernist architecture, a leading architect of the International Style
Walter Hahn, Austrian professional wrestler
Walter Hagen, German general, aviator, pilot in the Luftwaffe during World War II and a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves of Nazi Germany
Walter Hagen, American golfer
Walter Heitz, German general (Generaloberst) in the Wehrmacht during World War II, one of the principal commanders of Battle of Stalingrad
C. Walter Hodges, English artist and writer best known for illustrating children's books and for helping to recreate Elizabethan theatre
Walter Johnson, American baseball player
Walter von Keudell (1884–1973), German forest expert and politician
Walter Keane (1915-2000), American plagiarist, known for claiming MDH Keane's big-eyed waif paintings as his own
Walter Kirn, American author
Walter Koenig (born 1936), American actor
Walter R. Kramer (1914–1995) U.S. badminton champion
Walter Kreye (born 1942), German actor
Walter Lantz, American animator, cartoonist, and film producer
Walter Lübcke (1953–2019), German politician
Walter Ralston Martin (1928-1989) American Baptist Christian Minister.
Walter Martos (born 1957), Peruvian retired military general and current prime minister of Peru
Walter Maslow (born 1926), American former actor
Walter Matthau (1920–2000), American actor
Walter Mazzarri, Italian football manager
Walter Mercado, Puerto Rican astrologer
Walter Mondale, Vice President of the United States
Walter "Junie" Morrison (1954–2017), American funk musician, member of the Ohio Players
Walter Andreas Müller (born 1945), Swiss actor and comedian
Walter Murch, American film editor and sound designer
Walter Dean Myers, author
Walter Niephaus, German chess master
Walter Ophey (1882–1930) German painter
Walter Packer, American football player
Walter Palmore (born 1996), American football player
Walter Payton, American football player
Walter Pedraza, Colombian road cyclist
Walter Pidgeon, Canadian actor
Walter Poddubny, Canadian hockey player
Walter Raleigh, English explorer
Walter Rauff, SS commander in Nazi Germany involved in the development of gas vans and mobile gas chambers used to kill those people deemed enemies of the German state by poisoning or suffocation
Walter Ritz Swiss physicist
Walter Romberg, (1928–2014), German politician
Walter Samuel (born 1978), Argentine footballer
Walter Schellenberg, German SS functionary during the Nazi era, one of the highest ranking men in the Sicherheitsdienst (SD) and head of foreign intelligence for Nazi Germany following the abolition of the Abwehr in 1944
Walter Schreifels, American musician
Walter Schirra (1923–2007), Mercury Seven astronaut
Walter Scott (1771–1832), Scottish novelist and poet
Walter Scott (disambiguation), several people
Walter of Serviliano, Italian hermit, abbot and saint
Walter Short, lieutenant general in the United States Army and the U.S. military commander responsible for the defense of U.S. military installations in Hawaii at the time of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941
Walter Sillers, American lawyer and planter
Walter Sillers Jr., American politician and white supremacist
Walter Sisulu (1912–2003), South African politician.
Walter Smith, Scottish football player and manager
Walter Shaw Sparrow (1862–1940), British writer on art and architecture
Walter Stahlecker, commander of the SS security forces (Sicherheitspolizei (SiPo) and the Sicherheitsdienst(SD)) for the Reichskommissariat Ostland in 1941–42, commander of Einsatzgruppe A, the most murderous of the four Einsatzgruppen (death squads during the Holocaust) active in German-occupied Eastern Europe, main perpetrator of Burning of the Riga synagogues
Walther von Seydlitz-Kurzbach, general in the German Wehrmacht during World War II, one of the principal commanders of Demyansk Pocket
Walter Stewart (disambiguation), several people
Walter Tetley, American child actor
Walter Tewksbury, American athlete
Walter Thornburn (1842–1908), British politician
Walter Ulbricht (1893–1973), German politician, leader of East Germany, 1950–71
Walter Veltroni (born 1955), Italian writer, journalist and politician
Walter Waalderbos, Dutch footballer
Walter Whitman (1819–1892), American poet, journalist, essayist and humanist
Walter Bruce Willis (born 1955), American actor
Walter Willison, Tony Award nominated American actor, singer, writer, director, producer
Little Walter (1930–1968), American blues harmonica player
Walter Zapp (1905–2003), Baltic German inventor
Walter E. Zink US Army Major General

Pseudonym

Walter aka Valter, code name of WW2 hero Vladimir Perić
"Agent Walter", early codename of Josip Broz Tito
Walter, pseudonym of the author of My Secret Life (erotic memoir)

Fictional

Walter (Muppet), a Muppet character introduced in the 2011 film The Muppets
Walter, a puppet of ventriloquist Jeff Dunham (born 1962)
Walter the Softy (real name Walter Brown), arch-enemy of Dennis the Menace from The Beano comic since 1953.
Walter Donovan, the main antagonist of the 1989 film Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
Walter E. Kurtz, the main antagonist of the 1979 film Apocalypse Now
Walter Longmire, the title character in Craig Johnson’s A Longmire Mystery Series and main protagonist of A&E and Netflix’s LONGMIRE television series
Walter Mitty, the title character in James Thurber's 1939 short story The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
Walter Nichols, a character in the Nickelodeon sitcom Drake & Josh
Corporal Walter Eugine "Radar" O’Reilly, from the 1968–1986 M*A*S*H franchise of books, movies, and television
Walter, one of the protagonists in the 2005 film Zathura
Walter Newell, secret identity of Stingray (comics), a Marvel Comics character since 1967
Walter Sobchak, Vietnam veteran and best friend of "The Dude" in the Coen Brothers' 1998 film The Big Lebowski
Walter White, the protagonist of the 2008–2013 TV series Breaking Bad
Dr. Walter Bishop, a scientist on the 2008–2013 TV series Fringe
Walter Joseph Kovacs, the secret identity of the vigilante "Rorschach" in Watchmen since 1968
Walter Blythe, a character in "Rainbow Valley" (1919), "Anne of Ingleside" (1939), and "Rilla of Ingleside" (1921)
Walter, a synthetic android introduced in the 2017 Ridley Scott film Alien: Covenant

Surname

Medieval

Walter, or FitzWalter, an armigerous family in Norman England
- Theobald Walter, 1st Chief Butler of Ireland
- Hubert Walter (c. 1160 – 13 July 1205), English archbishop and justiciar

Early modern

Johann Walter (1496–1570), German composer and poet
Thomas Walter (botanist) (1740–1789), British-born American botanist
Anton Walter (1752–1826), German piano maker

Modern

Andrew Walter (born 1982), American football quarterback
Ben Walter (born 1984), Canadian ice hockey player
Bruno Walter (1876–1962), German-American conductor and composer
Carl Walter (c. 1831–1907), German-Australian botanist and photographer
David Walter (disambiguation), several people
Eugene Walter (1921–1998), American writer and actor
Francis E. Walter (1894–1963), American politician
Fritz Walter (football executive) (1900–1981), German football executive
Fritz Walter (footballer born 1960), German footballer
Fritz Walter (politician) (1896–1977), German politician
Fritz Walter (1920–2002), German footballer
Harriet Walter (born 1950), British actress
Harvey Washington Walter (1819-1878), American lawyer and railroad business executive
Hellmuth Walter (1900–1980), German engineer
Jamie Campbell-Walter (born 1972), British professional racing driver
Jean Walter (1883–1957), French architect
Jessica Walter (born 1941), American actress
Joachim Walter (born 1940), East German football player
Joe Walter (American football) (born 1963), American football tackle
Joe Walter (footballer) (1895–1995), British football player
Joe Walter (Ohio politician) (born 1947), former member of the Ohio House of Representatives
Joseph Walter (1783–1856), British marine artist
Kevin Walter (born 1981), American football wide receiver
Ottmar Walter (1924–2013), German footballer
Otto F. Walter (1928–1994) Swiss journalist, author and publisher
Owen Walter (born 1979), Canadian ice hockey defenceman
Raymond Walter (born 1972), New York State Assemblyman
Ruedi Walter, (1916–1990) Swiss comedian and actor
Ryan Walter (born 1958), Canadian hockey player
Silja Walter (1919–2011) Swiss author and Benedictine nun
Thomas U. Walter (1804–1887), American architect
Tracey Walter (born 1947), American character actor
Ulrich Walter (born 1954), German astronaut
Young Singleton Walter (1811-1883), American politician
Hubert Walter (1930 — 2008), German anthropologist

References

INL - Wouter
Förstemann, Altdeutsches Namenbuch (1856), 1244f.
Walter surname distribution

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[1] INL - Wouter

[2] Förstemann, Altdeutsches Namenbuch (1856), 1244f.

[walter2014-3] Walter surname distribution