Walterine
A feminine given name derived from Walter, meaning "army ruler".
Name Census estimates that about 100 living Americans carry the first name Walterine. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Walterine today is around 79 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Walterine births was 1924 (16 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Walterine. 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
- • The typical person named Walterine is about 79 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Walterines were born before 1957.
People living today
100
~ 1 in 3,427,543 Americans
Peak year
1924
16 babies that year
Average age
79
years old
1960 SSA rank
#6,368
Tracked since 1913
Census
Walterine in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 186 people with the first name Walterine, which placed it at #40,168 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
#40,168
National first-name rank
People counted
186
186 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
70.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Walterine
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Walterine is Black at 70.4%. The next largest groups are White (21.5%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (2.7%). 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 Walterine 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 Walterine at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American70.4% · 131
- White21.5% · 40
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.7% · 5
- Hispanic or Latino2.2% · 4
- Two or more races2.2% · 4
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.1% · 2
Popularity
Walterine: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Walterine from the 1910s through to the 1960s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 101 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Walterine 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 Walterine during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Walterines live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. Mississippi, Texas, Louisiana recorded the most babies named Walterine, while Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 24 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Walterine
Walterine is a feminine given name derived from the Germanic name Walter, which is composed of the elements "wald" meaning "ruler" and "hari" meaning "army." The name Walterine emerged in the Middle Ages, primarily in regions with Germanic cultural influence.
In its earliest forms, Walterine was often spelled as Walterina or Walteryna, reflecting its Germanic roots. The name gained popularity across various European regions, particularly in areas where Germanic languages were spoken, such as parts of Germany, France, and the Low Countries.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Walterine can be found in medieval records from the 12th century, where a noblewoman named Walterine von Buren was mentioned as a prominent figure in the court of the Holy Roman Empire. This historical reference suggests that the name was already in use among the nobility during that time period.
Throughout the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, several notable individuals bore the name Walterine. In the 14th century, Walterine de Montfort was a French noblewoman known for her involvement in the Hundred Years' War between England and France. Another notable figure was Walterine von Hatzfeld, a German abbess who lived in the 16th century and played a significant role in the religious and cultural life of her region.
During the 17th century, Walterine Moncrieff was a Scottish poet and writer whose works explored themes of love, nature, and spirituality. Her poems were widely circulated and appreciated in literary circles of her time.
In the 18th century, Walterine von Arnstedt was a German botanist and naturalist who made significant contributions to the study of plant life. Her extensive collections and detailed illustrations of various plant species were highly regarded by fellow scientists.
While the name Walterine has become less common in modern times, it retains a rich historical legacy rooted in its Germanic origins and the lives of remarkable individuals who bore this name throughout the centuries.
People
Walterine + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Walterine 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
Walterine: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Walterine?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 100 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Walterine 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 3,427,543 US residents.
Is Walterine a common name?
We classify Walterine as "Very Rare". It ranks above 64.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 390 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Walterine most popular?
The single biggest year for Walterine was 1924, when 16 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Walterine is about 79 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Walterine in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 186 people with the name Walterine, or 0.06 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #40,168 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 Walterine 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 Walterine?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Walterine appears almost entirely female. Of the 181 people counted with this name, 100.0% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Walterine?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Walterine is Black at 70.4%. The next largest groups are White (21.5%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (2.7%). 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 Walterine most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Walterine in the 2020 Census, accounting for 70.4% (131 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 Walterine in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Walterine a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Walterine in the SSA data are female. 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 Walterine still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Walterine 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 Walterine 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 are named Walterine?
For a quick modern take, check how many people have the name Walterine on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.