Walter Payton
There are approximately 19 people named Walter Payton living in the United States today. That makes this name combination very rare, occurring at a rate of about 1 in 18,039,702 Americans.
This estimate combines SSA birth records for the first name Walter with Census Bureau frequency data for the surname Payton. Below you will find a breakdown of both names, including popularity trends, gender data, and ancestry information.
Expected bearers
19
1 in 18,039,702
Named Walter
238K
Alive today
Named Payton
27K
Alive today
US population
343M
Denominator
Estimated living: 238K
Rarity: Common
Gender: Male
Peak year: 1918
Average age: 62
Estimated bearers: 27K
Rarity: Uncommon
Census rank: #1,515
Per 100K: 8.02
Top ancestry: White (53.6%)
First name trend
Walter: popularity over time
Year-by-year SSA birth registrations for the first name Walter. The peak year was 1918 with 13,418 births. The average person named Walter today is 62 years old.
Babies born per year
Ethnicity
Ancestry of the Payton surname
Self-reported race and ethnicity breakdown for people with the surname Payton, from the 2010 US Census Bureau. The largest group is White at 53.6%.
- White53.6%
- Black or African American39.9%
- Two or more races2.9%
- Hispanic or Latino2.4%
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9%
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.4%
Methodology
How we calculated this
The first name Walter has a living-bearer frequency of 0.0694% of the US population, based on 237,731 estimated living Americans carrying this first name (from SSA birth records going back to 1880, adjusted for mortality using CDC life tables).
The surname Payton appears at a rate of 8.02 per 100,000 residents in the 2010 Census Bureau surname file, which translates to a frequency of 0.0080%.
Multiplying these two independent frequencies against the current US population of 342,754,338 gives an expected count of approximately 19 people with the full name Walter Payton. This assumes statistical independence between first and last names, which is a simplification but produces reasonable estimates for most combinations.
Related
Other people named Walter
Related
Other people with the surname Payton
FAQ
Walter Payton: questions and answers
How many people are named Walter Payton?
We estimate approximately 19 people in the United States share the full name Walter Payton. That works out to about 1 in 18,039,702 Americans. This is calculated by combining the first-name frequency (0.0694%) with the surname frequency (8.02 per 100K) against the current US population.
How rare is the name Walter Payton?
We classify Walter Payton as "Very Rare". About 1 in 18,039,702 Americans share this exact first and last name combination.
Is Walter a male or female name?
Walter is predominantly male. Out of 633,415 total SSA registrations, 99.4% were male and 0.6% were female. See the full Walter profile for detailed gender data.
Where does this data come from?
First-name data comes from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files (1880 to 2024). Surname data comes from the 2010 US Census Bureau decennial surname tables. Living-bearer estimates use CDC actuarial life tables to adjust for mortality. Read the full methodology.