Explore the Family Name Walt

The meaning of Walt

1. German: variant of Waldt ‘forest’. 2. German: from a short form of the personal name Walther. 3. Jewish (Ashkenazic): variant of Wald.

Dictionary of American Family Names, 2nd edition, © Oxford University Press, 2022.

How common is the last name Walt in the United States?

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census data, the popularity of the surname Walt has seen a decline between 2000 and 2010. In 2000, Walt was ranked 19,428 in popularity, which dropped to 23,587 in 2010, marking a decrease of 21.41%. The count of people carrying the surname also fell from 1,288 in 2000 to 1,076 in 2010, a drop of 16.46%. Consequently, the proportion of the surname per 100k people also decreased by 25%, going down from 0.48 in 2000 to 0.36 in 2010.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#19,428	#23,587	-21.41%
Count	1,288	1,076	-16.46%
Proportion per 100k	0.48	0.36	-25%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Walt

The Decennial U.S. Census data also provides insight into the ethnic identity linked with the surname Walt. The majority of individuals with this surname identified as White, although this percentage did see a slight reduction from 94.25% in 2000 to 93.31% in 2010. Meanwhile, the number of those identifying as Hispanic saw more than a hundred percent increase, jumping from 0.85% to 1.77%. Representation of the surname within the Black community saw a decrease, moving from 2.48% to 1.86%. There were no recorded individuals with the Walt surname who identified as Asian/Pacific Islander or American Indian and Alaskan Native in 2010, whereas in 2000, these groups made up 0.7% and 0.47% respectively. Those identifying as belonging to two or more races slightly increased from 1.24% to 1.49%.

	2000	2010	Change
White	94.25%	93.31%	-1%
Black	2.48%	1.86%	-25%
Hispanic	0.85%	1.77%	108.24%
Two or More Races	1.24%	1.49%	20.16%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0.7%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0.47%	0%	0%