The Walters surname

In the 2010 U.S. Census, 89,376 people carried this name — #350 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 3,300 people counted. That is down 14% from 104,281 in 2000.

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What the name means

The meaning of the Walters surname

A surname transferred from the given name.

From Walter + -s.

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary (en.wiktionary.org) — entry «Walters» (English), by Wiktionary contributors · licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0) · excerpt, lightly adapted.

As an English and Welsh surname

Bardsley classes it as a baptismal name, from a given name: ‘the son of Walter’.

An early record he cites: Edmund fil. Walter, Cambridgeshire, 1273 — Hundred Rolls. Fil. is Latin for “son of”.

His entry covers Walter, Walther and Walters.

From Charles W. Bardsley, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames, with Special American Instances (London: Henry Frowde, 1901), p. 792 · public domain.

In Ireland’s birth registers, 1890

Ireland registered 7 births for the Walters name in 1890.

Most were registered in Ulster. By the Registrar-General’s own method — births multiplied by 44.38 — that is about 300 people bearing the name in Ireland at the time. 2 of them were indexed under other spellings of the name.

Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.

Where they were born, 1890

Ulster 4
Munster 2
Leinster 1

Registrar-General for Ireland, «Special Report on Surnames in Ireland» (R. E. Matheson, 1894), births index of 1890 — public domain.

In Switzerland’s population statistics

48 people named Walters live in Switzerland.

They live in 8 of Switzerland’s 26 cantons, most of all in Neuchâtel.

Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.

Where they live today

Neuchâtel 12
Aargau 8
Vaud 8
Geneva 6
St. Gallen 4
Zurich 4
Fribourg 3
Zug 3

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 39 people named Walters.

Most of them — 31 — were born outside France. Those born in France came from 4 départements, most often Charente-Maritime.

Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.

Where they were born

Born outside France 31
Charente-Maritime 4
Hauts-de-Seine 2
Loiret 1
Paris 1

Fichier des personnes décédées, INSEE — Licence Ouverte 2.0 · deaths recorded in France since 1970, by place of birth.

In the Nordic population registers

105 people named Walters are counted in Sweden and Finland.

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

Sweden (2022) 79
Finland (2026) 26

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.

Among the farmers of England and Wales, 1880s

Walters was found among the farmers of 4 counties.

It was most frequent in Monmouthshire: 60 in every 10,000 farmers there — about 1 in 167. Guppy counted the farmers listed in each county’s directory and recorded a name only where it reached about 7 in every 10,000; where it does not appear, it was rarer than that, not absent.

Where it concentrates, on the map

Per 10,000 farmers, by county

Monmouthshire 60
South Wales 60
Staffordshire 18
Devon 8

H. B. Guppy, «Homes of Family Names in Great Britain» (London, 1890), alphabetical list of English and Welsh names — public domain · farmers in Kelly’s Post Office Directories of the 1880s, per 10,000 farmers in each county.

In Scotland’s registers today

Walters was recorded 18 times in Scotland’s registers of births, marriages and deaths in 2025.

That made it the 1248th most common name in those registers, shared with others on the same count. In 1975, the first year of the series, the count was 16. Each birth counts the child’s surname, each marriage both partners’ and each death the surname of the person who died — a yearly count of registrations, not of the people who live in Scotland.

National Records of Scotland, «Most Common Surnames, 2025» (published 26 May 2026): every surname recorded 10 or more times in the 2025 registers, and the series from 1975 · different spellings are counted separately — © Crown copyright 2026. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

In print

Walters in American newspapers,
1907–1913.

Newspaper page from The Tupelo Journal carrying the name Walters
The Tupelo Journal 1907-10-25
Newspaper page from The Hattiesburg News carrying the name Walters
The Hattiesburg News 1913-04-25
Newspaper page from The Jones County News carrying the name Walters
The Jones County News 1913-05-01

Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain.

In print

Walters in Australian newspapers,
1820s–2000s.

112,417 articles name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Walters. The most, 23,229, date from the 1930s. New South Wales has the most articles, but weighed against how much of each state’s press from the same decades has been digitised, the name stands out most in South Australia, at 1.3 times its expected share.

Articles, by state

New South Wales 33,964
Victoria 22,696
Queensland 20,096
South Australia 16,931
Western Australia 9,361
Tasmania 8,102
ACT (Canberra) 516
Northern Territory 87

Trove, National Library of Australia (trove.nla.gov.au) · articles in its digitised newspapers that name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Walters.

Who carried it

People named Walters,
with a public archive behind them.

  • William Walters
    William Walters d. 1872 · banker
  • William Walters d. 1417 · politician
  • Stan Walters d. 1980 · rugby league player
  • Meurig Walters d. 1988 · Christian minister
  • Margaret Walters d. 1889
  • Hopkin Walters d. 1781

Wikidata (CC0) · portraits via Wikimedia Commons, shown cropped, in the public domain or CC0 · 10 lives in all are documented under this name.

In the public record

People named Walters,
in the records of 9 countries.

Soldiers, farmers, migrants and neighbours who carried the name and left a trace in public archives. Everyone shown here died long ago or was born more than a century ago.

United States9,695 records

9,695 records of the Walters name in the United States
  • U.S. Army enlistment records, World War II 3,547
  • New York City birth, marriage and death certificates 2,527
  • Other U.S. records 3,621
  1. Names engraved on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Washington, D.C.
    Example: U.S. war memorial
    War record James C. Walters

    Born 1929; from Shelby County, Tennessee. U.S. Army, armored reconnaissance crewman; declared dead 1951 in South Korea. Buried at Memphis National Cemetery, Tennessee.

    U.S. National Archives, Defense Casualty Analysis System (public domain); U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0)
  2. Names engraved on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Washington, D.C.
    Example: U.S. war memorial
    War record Bruce Elliot Walters

    Born 1949; from New York, New York. U.S. Army, infantryman; killed in action 1969 in Quang Tri, South Vietnam. Buried at Long Island National Cemetery, New York.

    U.S. National Archives, Defense Casualty Analysis System (public domain); U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0)
  3. A United States Selective Service registration card, 1942
    Example: U.S. registration card, 1942
    Military record Gilbert E. Walters

    Born 1918 in Iowa. Enlisted 1943 at Camp Dodge Herrold; farm hand from Bremer County. U.S. Army veteran of World War II; died 1999, buried at Finchford Cemetery, Nashua, Iowa.

    U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain); U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0)

Showing 3 of 9,695 records for Walters in the United States.

Counts: U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain) · NYC Department of Records & Information Services, Historical Vital Records (NYC Open Data) · U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0) · U.S. National Archives, Castle Garden Immigration Center Collection, Ship Passenger Records (unrestricted) · New York State Department of Health, Genealogical Research Death Index · U.S. National Archives, Flexoline Index Data File (public domain) · U.S. National Archives, Famine Irish Passenger Records (public domain) · U.S. National Archives, Defense Casualty Analysis System (public domain) · Sacramento County, Historic Burials (CC BY 4.0) · New York State, Open NY (police and firefighter memorial rolls). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Vietnam Veterans Memorial, photo by U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Michael J. Carden, 2009 (public domain); U.S. Selective Service registration card, 1942 (public domain).

Australia3,625 records

3,625 records of the Walters name in Australia
  • Victoria passenger lists, 1839–1923 1,419
  • Tasmanian Names Index 1,076
  • Other Australian records 1,130
  1. An 1829 etching of convicts being rowed out to the prison ship York in Portsmouth Harbour
    Pictured: convicts going on board a prison ship, 1829
    Transportation record Caroline Walters

    Transported to Van Diemen's Land aboard the Mellish, sailing from Spithead in 1830. Native of St Luke's, Middlesex. Applied for permission to marry in Van Diemen's Land in 1836. Married 1836 in Hobart, Tasmania.

    Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0)
  2. An 1829 etching of convicts being rowed out to the prison ship York in Portsmouth Harbour
    Pictured: convicts going on board a prison ship, 1829
    Transportation record James Walters

    Transported to Van Diemen's Land aboard the John Brewer, sailing from Sheerness in 1841. Native of Worcester, Worcestershire. Applied for permission to marry in Van Diemen's Land in 1849.

    Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0)
  3. A petition to the probate court of St. Louis, 1848
    Example: probate petition, 1848
    Probate record Mary Ann Walters

    Died 1887 in Launceston, Tasmania, aged 84. Will registered in Tasmania in 1887.

    Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0)

Showing 3 of 3,625 records for Walters in Australia.

Counts: Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0) · Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0) · Queensland State Archives (CC BY 4.0) · Museums of History NSW – State Archives Collection (CC BY) · State Library of Western Australia (CC BY 4.0) · ACT Government, Transport Canberra and City Services (CC BY 4.0) · City of Ballarat, Avenue of Honour Plaques (CC BY 3.0 AU) · National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Prison-ship in Portsmouth Harbour, with the convicts going on board, etching by Edward William Cooke, 1829, Royal Museums Greenwich (public domain); Petition to the probate court, St. Louis, 1848, Missouri Historical Society (public domain).

Netherlands2,916 records

2,916 records of the Walters name in the Netherlands
  • Dutch civil registers (births, marriages, deaths) 1,661
  • Dutch population registers 1,002
  • Dutch church registers before 1811 253
  1. A marriage entry in the civil register of Tilburg, 1911
    Example: marriage register, 1911
    Marriage record Maria Walters

    Married in 1886 in Maastricht; factory worker. Died 1892 in Maastricht, aged 32.

    Open Archives, Regionaal Historisch Centrum Limburg (CC BY 4.0)
  2. A marriage entry in the civil register of Tilburg, 1911
    Example: marriage register, 1911
    Marriage record Johann Walters

    Married in 1889 in Onstwedde; labourer. Died 1930 in Ter Apelkanaal (Vlagtwedde), aged 66.

    Open Archives, Groninger Archieven (CC BY 4.0)
  3. A marriage entry in the civil register of Tilburg, 1911
    Example: marriage register, 1911
    Marriage record Alphonsus Maria Aloysius Walters

    Married in 1927 in 's-Gravenhage; warehouse clerk. Died 1960 in 's-Gravenhage, aged 65.

    Open Archives, Haags Gemeentearchief (CC BY 4.0)

Showing 3 of 2,916 records for Walters in the Netherlands.

Counts: Open Archives (CC BY 4.0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Marriage register, Tilburg, 1911, Regionaal Archief Tilburg (public domain).

Canada655 records

655 records of the Walters name in Canada
  • Nova Scotia Archives name indexes 465
  • City of Calgary cemetery records 51
  • Other Canadian records 139
  1. The first page of an emigration file from Gündlingen, Baden, 1883
    Example: German emigration file, 1883
    Emigration record Kate Walters

    Left New York in 1783 aboard the L'Abondance, bound for Port Mattoon, aged 40.

    Nova Scotia Archives. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Nova Scotia.
  2. A passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, arriving at New York in 1903
    Example: passenger manifest, 1903
    Passenger record Geo Walters

    Came to Ontario in 1879 aboard the Quebec, landing at Quebec, bound for London, Ontario; English.

    Archives of Ontario. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Ontario.
  3. Fairview Lawn Cemetery in Halifax, Nova Scotia
    Example: Canadian cemetery
    Burial record Jeuness Beulah Walters

    Buried in 1966 at Fairview Lawn Cemetery, Halifax, Nova Scotia, aged 71.

    Halifax Regional Municipality. Contains information licenced under the Open Government Licence—Halifax.

Showing 3 of 655 records for Walters in Canada.

Counts: Nova Scotia Archives. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Nova Scotia. · City of Calgary. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – City of Calgary. · City of Vancouver. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Vancouver. · City of Winnipeg. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Winnipeg. · Veterans Affairs Canada. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Canada. · City of Niagara Falls. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Niagara Falls. · Halifax Regional Municipality. Contains information licenced under the Open Government Licence—Halifax. · National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain) · Archives of Ontario. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Ontario. · Contains information provided by the City of Waterloo under licence. Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Emigration file, Gündlingen, 1883, Landesarchiv Baden-Württemberg, Staatsarchiv Freiburg B 694/1 Nr. 1389 (CC BY 4.0); Passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, New York, 1903 (public domain); Fairview Lawn Cemetery, Halifax, photo by Edgar El (CC BY 3.0).

United Kingdom199 records

199 records of the Walters name in the United Kingdom
  • War Office casualty lists, 1917–1919, among the dead 98
  • Welsh wills index cards 84
  • Other British records 17
  1. A page of the burial register of Newtown, Wales, 1858
    Example: burial register, 1858
    Burial record Alex Walters

    Died 1929, aged 76; buried at Logie Cemetery, Stirling, Scotland.

    Stirling Council. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
  2. A petition to the probate court of St. Louis, 1848
    Example: probate petition, 1848
    Probate record William Walters

    Will proved in 1934; of Llanelly.

    National Library of Wales, Wills Index Cards (CC0)
  3. A page of the burial register of Newtown, Wales, 1858
    Example: burial register, 1858
    Burial record Ann Walters

    Buried in 1797 at St James's burial ground, Euston, London, aged 47.

    MOLA and HS2, St James's burial ground data. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Showing 3 of 199 records for Walters in the United Kingdom.

Counts: National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain) · National Library of Wales, Wills Index Cards (CC0) · MOLA and HS2, St James's burial ground data. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. · Stirling Council. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. · National Library of Scotland, Rolls of Honour (public domain). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Burial register of Newtown, Montgomeryshire, 1858, National Library of Wales (CC0); Petition to the probate court, St. Louis, 1848, Missouri Historical Society (public domain).

Germany39 records

39 records of the Walters name in Germany Germany's First World War casualty lists, 1914–1919
  1. A page of the German First World War casualty lists, 18 April 1918
    Example: German casualty list, 1918
    Casualty list Johann Walters

    From Werne, Lüdinghausen. Reported wounded in the Prussian casualty list of 19 December 1916.

    Verein für Computergenealogie e.V. (2026). Deutsche Verlustlisten des Ersten Weltkriegs – Datensammlung (Version 1.0), DOI 10.5281/zenodo.18330751 (CC0)
  2. A page of the German First World War casualty lists, 18 April 1918
    Example: German casualty list, 1918
    Casualty list Bruno Walters

    From Dortmund. Reported missing in the Prussian casualty list of 3 June 1919.

    Verein für Computergenealogie e.V. (2026). Deutsche Verlustlisten des Ersten Weltkriegs – Datensammlung (Version 1.0), DOI 10.5281/zenodo.18330751 (CC0)

Showing 2 of 39 records for Walters in Germany.

Counts: Verein für Computergenealogie e.V. (2026). Deutsche Verlustlisten des Ersten Weltkriegs – Datensammlung (Version 1.0), DOI 10.5281/zenodo.18330751 (CC0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Deutsche Verlustlisten, Prussian list 1116, 18 April 1918 (scan via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0).

New Zealand36 records

36 records of the Walters name in New Zealand
  • Christchurch City cemetery records 22
  • Thames-Coromandel District cemetery records 14
  1. A page of the burial register of Newtown, Wales, 1858
    Example: burial register, 1858
    Burial record Reuben Walters

    Buried in 1889 at Shortland Cemetery, Thames-Coromandel District, Waikato, aged 68.

    Thames-Coromandel District Council (CC BY 4.0)
  2. A page of the burial register of Newtown, Wales, 1858
    Example: burial register, 1858
    Burial record Elizabeth Walters

    Died 1971, aged 86; buried at Waimairi Cemetery, Christchurch, Canterbury.

    Christchurch City Council (CC BY 4.0)

Showing 2 of 36 records for Walters in New Zealand.

Counts: Christchurch City Council (CC BY 4.0) · Thames-Coromandel District Council (CC BY 4.0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Burial register of Newtown, Montgomeryshire, 1858, National Library of Wales (CC0).

France10 records

10 records of the Walters name in France France's national death register, 1970–2001
  1. A page of the death register of Nice, 1930
    Example: French death register, 1930
    Death record Derek Aniel Walters

    Born 1957 in Paris; died 1999 in Cesny-aux-Vignes-Ouézy (Calvados).

    Insee, Fichier des personnes décédées (Licence Ouverte)

Showing 1 of 10 records for Walters in France.

Counts: Insee, Fichier des personnes décédées (Licence Ouverte). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Death register of Nice, 1930, Archives départementales des Alpes-Maritimes (public domain).

Belgium5 records

5 records of the Walters name in Belgium
  • Belgian population registers 3
  • Belgian civil registers (births, marriages, deaths) 1
  • Belgian church registers before 1811 1
  1. A page of the Berlin civil register, 1880
    Example: civil register, 1880
    Death record Anna Walters

    Died 1957 in Gent.

    Open Archives, Archief Gent (CC BY 4.0)

Showing 1 of 5 records for Walters in Belgium.

Counts: Open Archives (CC BY 4.0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Civil register, Berlin, 1880, Landesarchiv Berlin (CC0).

Nearby in the index

Surnames next to Walters.

When the index is not enough

This page says where Walters 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.

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