Waldy
A masculine name of Germanic origin meaning "ruler of the wood".
Name Census estimates that about 22 living Americans carry the first name Waldy. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Waldy today is around 21 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Waldy births was 2003 (6 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Waldy. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Waldy. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
22
~ 1 in 15,579,743 Americans
Peak year
2003
6 babies that year
Average age
21
years old
2021 SSA rank
#13,953
Tracked since 1990
Census
Waldy in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 273 people with the first name Waldy, which placed it at #31,391 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#31,391
National first-name rank
People counted
273
273 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
83.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Waldy
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Waldy is Hispanic at 83.2%. The next largest groups are Black (7.7%) and White (6.6%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Waldy described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Waldy at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino83.2% · 227
- Black or African American7.7% · 21
- White6.6% · 18
- Two or more races2.2% · 6
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.4% · 1
Popularity
Waldy: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Waldy from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 12 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Waldy remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Waldy by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Waldy during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Waldy
The name Waldy finds its origins in the Germanic languages, with roots dating back to the early medieval period. It is believed to be a variation of the Old High German name Waltheri, which itself is derived from the elements "waltan" meaning "to rule" and "heri" meaning "army." This combination suggests a meaning along the lines of "ruler of the army" or "commanding leader."
In its earliest recorded instances, the name appeared in various Germanic tribes and kingdoms scattered across central and western Europe during the 5th to 10th centuries. Alternate spellings from this era include Walderich, Waldhari, and Waltharius. One of the earliest known bearers of a similar name was Waltharius, a legendary Aquitanian hero celebrated in a 10th-century Latin epic poem known as the Waltharius.
As the name spread and evolved over the centuries, it took on various forms in different languages and cultures. In Old English, it became Waldhere, while in Old Norse it was rendered as Valdari. These variants reveal the name's widespread use among the Germanic peoples of the early medieval period.
One notable historical figure bearing a version of this name was Waldemar I, also known as Waldemar the Great, who reigned as King of Denmark from 1157 to 1182. He is credited with consolidating and expanding the Danish kingdom, and his reign marked a period of significant political and military power for Denmark.
Another figure of note was Waldemar Atterdag, who ruled as King of Denmark from 1340 to 1375. He played a crucial role in reuniting the territories of Denmark, Sweden, and Norway under Danish rule, establishing the Kalmar Union.
In the 13th century, there was also a Count Waldemar of Arnstein, a German nobleman and crusader who participated in the Fifth Crusade and later became a prominent figure in the Holy Roman Empire.
Shifting to the literary realm, one cannot overlook the character of Waldhere in the Old English epic poem Waldere, which likely dates back to the 8th or 9th century. This heroic figure is believed to have been inspired by the legendary Waltharius mentioned earlier.
Furthermore, the name Waldemar has been borne by several Russian nobles and princes throughout history, such as Waldemar Pawlowicz Musin-Pushkin (1798-1854), a prominent Russian statesman and diplomat during the reign of Nicholas I.
While these examples span various time periods and cultures, they all underscore the enduring legacy and historical significance of the name Waldy and its variants, rooted in the Germanic traditions of the early medieval era.
People
Waldy + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Waldy as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with W
Other first names starting with W with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Waldy: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Waldy?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 22 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Waldy going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 15,579,743 US residents.
Is Waldy a common name?
We classify Waldy as "Very Rare". It ranks above 41.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 22 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Waldy most popular?
The single biggest year for Waldy was 2003, when 6 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Waldy is about 21 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Waldy in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 273 people with the name Waldy, or 0.09 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #31,391 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Waldy in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Waldy?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Waldy leans strongly male. 229 people counted with this name were male (83.9%), compared with 44 female bearers (16.1%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Waldy?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Waldy is Hispanic at 83.2%. The next largest groups are Black (7.7%) and White (6.6%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Waldy most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Waldy in the 2020 Census, accounting for 83.2% (227 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Waldy in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Waldy a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Waldy in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Waldy still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Waldy in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Waldy can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people have Waldy as a first name?
For a quick modern take, check how many Americans are named Waldy on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.