Find out how popular the last name Wolter is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Wolter.

Wolter, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Wolter surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Wolter in America

Wolter is the 7384th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Wolter surname appeared 4,511 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 2 people would have the surname Wolter.

We can also compare 2010 data for Wolter to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Wolter

The surname Wolter is of Germanic origin, derived from the old German personal name Walter, which means "ruler of the army" or "commander of the host". This name can be traced back to the 8th century and was popular among the Frankish and Teutonic tribes.

The earliest recorded instances of the surname Wolter can be found in various German regions, including Bavaria, Saxony, and Westphalia. It is believed that the name first appeared in written records during the Middle Ages, possibly in the form of "Walter" or "Walther".

One of the earliest known bearers of this surname was Wolter von der Vogelweide, a renowned Middle High German lyric poet and minnesinger from the late 12th and early 13th centuries. His poems and songs are considered among the finest examples of medieval German literature.

During the 13th and 14th centuries, the surname Wolter can be found in various medieval records and documents, such as the Codex Diplomaticus Brandenburgensis and the Monumenta Germaniae Historica, which documented the history of the Holy Roman Empire.

In the 16th century, the surname Wolter was borne by Johann Wolter, a German printer and publisher who was active in Nuremberg from around 1540 to 1580. He is known for publishing works by notable authors of the time, including Desiderius Erasmus.

Another notable bearer of the surname was Bernhard Wolter, a German sculptor and woodcarver born in Nuremberg in 1605. He is renowned for his intricate and detailed wood carvings, many of which adorned churches and public buildings in Germany.

In the 18th century, Johann Wolter was a German theologian and philosopher who lived from 1741 to 1819. He is best known for his works on ethics and moral philosophy, which were influential during the Enlightenment period.

The surname Wolter has also been associated with various place names throughout Germany, such as Woltershausen, Woltersdorf, and Woltersburg, indicating that the name may have originated from specific locations or regions.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Wolter

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Wolter.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Wolter was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Wolter has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Wolter was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Wolter, please contact us.

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