Walter

See also: walter

English

Etymology

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-Germanic *Waldaharjaz, from *waldą (“ruler”) +‎ *harjaz (“army, host”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂welh₁- (“be strong”) + *ker- (“army”). Related to Old English Waldhere. Compare herald and Harold, which have these elements reversed.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈwɔltɚ/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈwɒltə/, IPA^(key): /ˈwɔːltə/

  • Audio (Southern England)

    (file)

• (cot–caught merger, Canada) IPA^(key): /ˈwɑltɚ/
• Rhymes: -ɔːltə(ɹ)

Proper noun

Walter

1. A male given name from the Germanic languages.
   • 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]:

     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.

   • 1991, Julian Barnes, Talking It Over, →ISBN, page 13:

     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.

   • 2003, Elinor Sisulu, Walter & Albertina Sisulu: In Our Lifetime, page 151:

     Walter complained about the assault and isolation of the volunteers. Two policemen immediately grabbed him and dragged him to the punishment cells.

2. A surname.
3. An unincorporated community in Cullman County, Alabama, United States.
4. A township in Lac qui Parle County, Minnesota, United States.

Derived terms

• Walterboro

Related terms

• (pet forms) Wally, Walt, Wat
• (surnames) Fitzwater, Gwatkin, Walters, Waters, Waterson, Watkin, Watkins, Watkinson, Watson, Watt, Watts

Translations

male given name

• Armenian: Վալտեր (Valter)
• Bengali: ওয়াল্টার (ōẇalṭar)
• Catalan: Gualter
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 華特／华特 (waa⁴ dat⁶)

  Mandarin: 沃爾特／沃尔特 (Wò'ěrtè)

• Czech: Valtr (cs) m
• Dutch: Wouter (nl) m
• Esperanto: Valtero
• Estonian: Valter
• Finnish: Valtteri (fi)
• French: Gautier (fr) m
• Galician: Guterre (gl)
• Georgian: ვალტერი (valṭeri), უოლტერი (uolṭeri)
• German: Walter (de) m, Walther (de) m
• Greek: Γουώλτερ (el) (Gouólter), Γουόλτερ (el) (Gouólter) (transliteration from English)
• Hindi: वालटर m (vālṭar), वॉल्टर m (vŏlṭar)
• Hungarian: Valter (hu)
• Icelandic: Valtýr (is) m, Valter (is) m
• Irish: Ualtar m
• Italian: Gualtiero (it) m
• Japanese: ウォルター (Worutā)
• Korean: 월터 (Wolteo)
• Latin: Gualterius
• Latvian: Valters m
• Lithuanian: Valteris (lt) m
• Low German: Wöltje
• Maori: Wāta
• Polish: Walter (pl) m
• Portuguese: Válter (pt) m, Guálter m, Gualtério m
• Russian: Ва́льтер (ru) m (Válʹtɛr) (traditional or from German), Уо́лтер (ru) m (Uóltɛr) (from English, modern)
• Scottish Gaelic: Bhaltair m, Bhàtar m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: Валтер m

  Roman: Valter m

• Sicilian: Guarteri m, Varteri m
• Slovene: Valter m
• Spanish: Gualterio m
• Swedish: Valter (sv)

Anagrams

• Lawter, rewalt

German

Alternative forms

• Walther

Etymology

From Old High German Waltheri, from Proto-Germanic *Waldaharjaz. Cognate with English Walter.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈvaltər/, [ˈval.tɐ], [ˈʋal-]

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -altəʁ

Proper noun

Walter m (proper noun, strong, genitive Walters or Walter)

1. a male given name

Proper noun

Walter m or f (proper noun, surname, masculine genitive Walters or (with an article) Walter, feminine genitive Walter, plural Walters or Walter)

1. a common surname originating as a patronymic

Italian

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English Walter or German Walter (and Walther), both ultimately from Proto-West Germanic *Waldahari, from Proto-Germanic *Waldaharjaz.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈval.ter/
• Rhymes: -alter

Proper noun

Walter m

1. a male given name

Middle English

Etymology

From Old Northern French Waltier, from Frankish *Waltheri (compare Old High German Waltheri, which see for more details), from Proto-Germanic *Waldaharjaz.

Proper noun

Walter

1. a male given name

Descendants

• English: Walter
• Yola: Wathere

References

• “Walter”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Portuguese

Proper noun

Walter m

1. a male given name, equivalent to English Walter, Alternative form of Valter

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈwalteɾ/ [ˈwal̪.t̪eɾ]
• Rhymes: -alteɾ
• Syllabification: Wal‧ter

Proper noun

Walter m

1. a male given name, equivalent to English Walter, Alternative form of Gutierre

Usage notes

• A popular name in Spanish-speaking South America. As in English, stress is on the first syllable, even though Spanish orthography would necessitate the placing of an accent mark, rendering it ̼"Wálter", this spelling is seldom used.

Swedish

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

Proper noun

Walter c (genitive Walters)

1. a male given name, variant of Valter