Walter is a Germanic name composed of wald, rule, and heri, army, and means "ruler of the army" or "commander". The Normans brought it to England, Sir Walter Raleigh and Sir Walter Scott carried it in Britain, and Walt Disney and Walter Cronkite made it an American institution; Breaking Bad's Walter White gave it a darker twist. Walter has stayed in the US top 1000 throughout, moving from number 308 in 2000 to number 252 among boys' names in 2025, its highest rank in this century.