How common is the name Walter?

244,847 people in the United States have the first name Walter, about 1 in 1,234. It ranks #227 of 53,615 first names in the 2020 Census.

first name

WALTER

#227

of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census

People
244,847
About
1 in 1,234
This common or more
43.8%
Who bears it

Of the 244,847 people named Walter, 67.5% reported their origin as White, 16% as Black and 12.3% as Hispanic or Latino. Virtually all are male (99.8%). These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.

Walter peaked in 1918, when 13,418 babies got the name.

Births per year, SSA records 1880–2025
18802025
Peak year
1918
Births that year
13,418
In 2025*
1,381 ▼90%
Recorded as
almost entirely male

At least 634,804 babies have been given the name since 1880. Years SSA withheld, because fewer than 5 were born, are skipped rather than drawn as zero. * 2025 is the newest year published and it undercounts: a card application is filed some time after a birth.

Walter by decade

Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 1880s, when it ranked #21. The largest share of babies named Walter, 32.7%, were born between 1901 and 1927, the Greatest Generation's birth years.

1880s#2118,255
1890s#3719,613
1900s#4520,126
1910s#2389,635
1920s#29120,673
1930s#4481,489
1940s#6484,106
1950s#11472,529
1960s#16546,195
1970s#23225,942
1980s#32317,718
1990s#48212,058
2000s#7518,133
2010s#62510,607
2020s#5147,725
Before 19016.3%
Greatest Generation 1901–2732.7%
Silent Generation 1928–4523.8%
Baby boom 1946–6421.1%
Generation X 1965–807.5%
Millennials 1981–963.9%
Generation Z 1997–122.1%
2013 and later2.5%

Rank counts both sexes together, among every name SSA recorded that decade; the number under it is births. The 2020s run only to 2025. Generation years follow Pew Research Center, which has not named a generation after 2012.

Where Walter is most common

Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Walter has been most common in Mississippi (2×), Pennsylvania (1.5×), and Rhode Island (1.5×), and least common in Nevada (0.33×).

572,944 births recorded by state, 1910–2025. 2× means twice as common as nationally. States with fewer than 30 such births are left blank, and SSA withholds any year with fewer than 5 in a state, so small states read low.

Either side of Walter

#225 Courtney · 246,235#226 Francisco · 246,232#228 Craig · 244,493#229 Carl · 243,430

Spelled almost the same

3 first names in the 2020 Census spelled within a letter or two of Walter, most common first.

#21,545 Walther · 470#48,024 Walder · 134#49,173 Walters · 127

Also a last name

As a last name, Walter ranks #739 of 156,621, with 45,791 people. See Walter as a last name

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