Walter
Meaning and origin
Wiktionary describes it as a male given name, variant of Valter.
Source: Wiktionary, Swedish entry for Walter (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Popularity in Sweden
Among newborns, Walter has been rising over the last few years. Its best year between 1998 and 2022 was 2019. The figures are for this exact spelling; other spellings of the name are counted on their own.
Years with fewer than two babies (fewer than ten before 2004) show as zero in the chart and as – in the table.
Show the figures
| Year | Boys |
|---|---|
| 1998 | 10 |
| 1999 | 13 |
| 2000 | – |
| 2001 | 22 |
| 2002 | 21 |
| 2003 | 22 |
| 2004 | 41 |
| 2005 | 36 |
| 2006 | 50 |
| 2007 | 53 |
| 2008 | 64 |
| 2009 | 83 |
| 2010 | 99 |
| 2011 | 107 |
| 2012 | 132 |
| 2013 | 160 |
| 2014 | 192 |
| 2015 | 198 |
| 2016 | 202 |
| 2017 | 257 |
| 2018 | 259 |
| 2019 | 303 |
| 2020 | 299 |
| 2021 | 299 |
| 2022 | 270 |
Everyone registered in Sweden on 31 December with this as the first name they use.
Show the figures
| Year | Men and boys |
|---|---|
| 1999 | 900 |
| 2000 | 897 |
| 2001 | 911 |
| 2002 | 922 |
| 2003 | 945 |
| 2004 | 970 |
| 2005 | 987 |
| 2006 | 1,020 |
| 2007 | 1,060 |
| 2008 | 1,114 |
| 2009 | 1,194 |
| 2010 | 1,288 |
| 2011 | 1,389 |
| 2012 | 1,514 |
| 2013 | 1,660 |
| 2014 | 1,847 |
| 2015 | 2,040 |
| 2016 | 2,244 |
| 2017 | 2,477 |
| 2018 | 2,712 |
| 2019 | 3,011 |
| 2020 | 3,297 |
Walter in a sentence
- Hej! Jag heter Walter.Hi! My name is Walter.
- Walter har bott i Uppsala i tre år.Walter has lived in Uppsala for three years.
- Walters mamma är lärare.Walter's mum is a teacher.
Swedish shows possession with a plain -s and no apostrophe: Walters mamma is Walter's mum.
More names
Questions about Walter
How do you pronounce Walter in Swedish?
Press Listen at the top of the page to hear Walter from a native speaker's recording.
What does the name Walter mean?
Wiktionary describes it as a male given name, variant of Valter.
How popular is Walter in Sweden?
270 babies were named Walter in 2022. In 2020, 3,297 people in Sweden had Walter as the first name they go by. Among newborns the name has been rising lately and peaked in 2019 in the years SCB covers (1998–2022).
Popularity figures: Statistics Sweden (SCB), name statistics (BE0001) from the Statistical Database, released as open data under CC0. Each spelling is counted as its own name, as SCB does. SCB's open name statistics end with babies named in 2022 and the population on 31 December 2020; SCB stopped producing name statistics in 2024 and now points to the Swedish Tax Agency (Skatteverket) for newer figures.
Origins, IPA and recordings: Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0), via kaikki.org; recordings from Lingua Libre on Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA). Lingolib is not affiliated with SCB or Wiktionary. Sources last checked 7 October 2026.