The Wachter surname
In the 2010 U.S. Census, 4,601 people carried this name — #7,247 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 64,100 people counted. That is up 2% from 4,513 in 2000.
In Switzerland’s population statistics
1,200 people named Wachter live in Switzerland.
They live in 20 of Switzerland’s 26 cantons, most of all in Zurich.
Where it concentrates, on the mapWhere they live today
Swiss Federal Statistical Office (FSO), «Surnames of the permanent resident population by canton», 2025, opendata.swiss/en/dataset/nachnamen-der-standigen-wohnbevolkerung-nach-kanton3 · names with fewer than 3 bearers in a canton are not published.
In France’s civil register
France’s register of deaths holds 285 people named Wachter.
34 of them were born outside France. Those born in France came from 29 départements, most often Guadeloupe.
Where it concentrates, on the mapWhere they were born
Fichier des personnes décédées, INSEE — Licence Ouverte 2.0 · deaths recorded in France since 1970, by place of birth.
In Argentina’s national register
At least 92 people named Wachter live in Argentina.
RENAPER only publishes a name in a province when more than ten people there share it, so the real number is higher. Most of them live in Misiones.
Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.
Where they live today
RENAPER (National Registry of Persons, Argentina), surnames of residents by province, December 2021 — CC BY 4.0.
In the Nordic population registers
54 people named Wachter are counted in Finland and Sweden.
Sweden’s figure is from 31 December 2022, the last count Statistics Sweden published. Finland counts its citizens, at home or abroad.
Counted, by country
Own calculations based on data from Statistics Sweden (SCB), surnames with at least two bearers, 31 December 2022 — CC BY 4.0 (names with 20 or more bearers shown) · Digital and Population Data Services Agency (DVV), Finland, surname statistics, August 2026 — CC BY 4.0.
In print
Wachter in American newspapers,
1876–1905.
Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain · 52,764 pages in all carry the name.
Who carried it
People named Wachter,
with a public archive behind them.
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Jacob Pietersz Wachter 1590–1649 · bookseller
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Johann Peter Wachter 1650–1690 · architect
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Georg Wachter 1652–1733 · superintendent
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Heinrich Wächter 1695–1764 · horn player
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Jakub Wachter 1700–1741 · composer
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Joseph Gottfried Adolph Wachter 1782–1854 · medical researcher
Wikidata (CC0) · 9 lives in all are documented under this name.
Nearby in the index
Surnames next to Wachter.
- Vuylsteke 212 · U.S. census
- Waag 319 · U.S. census
- Wable 290 · U.S. census
- Wabnitz 118 · U.S. census
- Wach 830 · U.S. census
- Wachowiak 677 · U.S. census
- Wack 743 · U.S. census
- Wacker 4,530 · U.S. census
- Wade 97,040 · U.S. census
- Wadel 513 · U.S. census
- Waechter 1,157 · U.S. census
- Wagener 1,627 · U.S. census
When the index is not enough
This page says where Wachter is.
A volume says what happened to it.
Every page in the index is free and stays free. The Heritage Volume is the long form: the full paper trail, the arms, the crossing — bound, and yours.