Meanings
- A male given name from the Germanic languages.
Walter complained about the assault and isolation of the volunteers. Two policemen immediately grabbed him and dragged him to the punishment cells.
2003, Elinor Sisulu, Walter & Albertina Sisulu: In Our Lifetime, page 1513 more examples
Whitmore. And so am I; my name is Walter Whitmore. / How now! why start'st thou? what! doth death affright? Suffolk. Thy name affrights me, in whose sound is death. / A cunning man did calculate my birth, / And told me that by Water I should die. / Yet let not this make thee be bloody-minded; / Thy name is - Gaultier, being rightly sounded.
1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Sixt”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene i]And with some appellations, the contrary applies. Like Walter, for instance. You can't be Walter in a pram. You can't be Walter until you're about seventy-five in my view.
1991, Julian Barnes, Talking It Over, →ISBN, page 13On the podcast, Gaines and his co-host Walter Weekes (Fresh), regularly refer to women as “hoes” or 304s (304 on an upside-down calculator looks like the word “hoe”).
2023 June 9, John Mac Ghlionn, “The new Andrew Tate: Toxic ‘manosphere’ podcaster claims ‘all women are whores’”, in New York Post, archived from the original on 31 Mar 2025 - A surname.
Prof Barbara Walter notes in her book How Civil Wars Start that two conditions are key: ethnic factionalism and anocracy – when a country is neither fully democratic nor fully autocratic.
2023 June 16, “The Guardian view on Trump and political violence: more than words”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on 01 Aug 2023
Origin
- Proto-Germanic*Waldaharjaz
- Proto-West Germanic*Waldahari
- Frankish*Waltheri
- Old Northern FrenchWaltier
- Middle EnglishWalter
- Germanic
- EnglishWalter
A Germanic name, from Middle English Walter, from Old Northern French Waltier, from Frankish *Waltheri (compare Old High German Waltheri, which see for more details), from Proto-West Germanic *Waldahari, from Proto-Germanic *Waldaharjaz, from *waldą (“ruler”) + *harjaz (“army, host”). Related to Old English Waldhere. Compare herald and Harold, in which these elements are reversed.
More words from Germanic, Middle English, Old Northern French
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bengali ওয়াল্টার
- ওয়াল্টার (ōẇalṭar)male given name
Bulgarian Ва́лтер, Готие́
- Ва́лтер (Válter)male given name
- Готие́ (Gotié)male given name
- Уо́лтър (Uóltăr)male given name
Catalan Gualter
- Gualtermale given name
Chinese Cantonese 華特 /华特
- 華特 /华特 (waa⁴ dat⁶)male given name
Chinese Mandarin 沃爾特 /沃尔特
- 沃爾特 /沃尔特 (Wò'ěrtè)male given name
Czech Valtr
- Valtrmale given name
Dutch Wouter
- Woutermale given name
Esperanto Valtero
- Valteromale given name
Estonian Valter
- Valtermale given name
Finnish Valtteri
- Valtterimale given name
French Gautier
- Gautiermale given name
German Walter, Walther
- Waltermale given name
- Walthermale given name
Greek Γουώλτερ, Γουόλτερ
- Γουώλτερ (Gouólter)male given name
- Γουόλτερ (Gouólter)male given name
Hindi वालटर
- वालटर (vālṭar)male given name
Hungarian Valter
- Valtermale given name
Icelandic Valtýr, Valter
- Valtýrmale given name
- Valtermale given name
Irish Ualtar
- Ualtarmale given name
Italian Gualtiero
- Gualtieromale given name
Japanese ウォルター
- ウォルター (Worutā)male given name
Korean 월터
- 월터 (Wolteo)male given name
Latin Gualterius
- Gualteriusmale given name
Latvian Valters
- Valtersmale given name
Lithuanian Valteris
- Valterismale given name
Māori Wāta
- Wātamale given name
Polish Walter
- Waltermale given name
Portuguese Válter, Guálter
- Váltermale given name
- Guáltermale given name
- Gualtériomale given name
Russian Ва́льтер, Уо́лтер
- Ва́льтер (Válʹtɛr)male given name
- Уо́лтер (Uóltɛr)male given name
- Готье́ (Gotʹjé)male given name
Scottish Gaelic Bhaltair, Bhàtar
- Bhaltairmale given name
- Bhàtarmale given name
Spanish Gualterio
- Gualteriomale given name
Swedish Valter
- Valtermale given name
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with Walter
All rhymes →Anagrams
Cite this entry
Walter. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Walter
“Walter.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Walter. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Walter,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Walter.
Source: Walter on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.