Walter (name)

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

Walter, Walther

Walter Devereux, 1st Earl of Essex
Gender	Male
Origin
Word/name	Old High German
Meaning	Powerful army, Bright army
Other names
Related names	Valter, Valtyr, Wouter, Gauthier, Gualtiero, Gutierre, Valtteri

The name is recorded for 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. Walter of Aquitaine is not a historical king; 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]

1. Baden-Württemberg (1:386)
2. Bremen (1:422)
3. Brandenburg (1:450)
4. Hesse (1:526)
5. Saxony-Anhalt (1:539)
6. Rhineland-Palatinate (1:599)
7. Thuringia (1:603)
8. Bavaria (1:606)
9. Saxony (1:621)
10. Saarland (1:627)

Given name

• Stacy Keach, also known as Walter Stacy Keach
• 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
• Walter Crucce, Argentine boxer
• 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 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 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 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 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 Packer, 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 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

See also

• Valter
• Walt, name
• Walters (disambiguation)
• Wat (disambiguation)
• Waldemar (disambiguation)
• Vladimir (name)

References

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