How popular is the baby name Walter in the United States right now? How popular was it historically? Use the popularity graph and data table below to find out! Plus, see all the blog posts that mention the name Walter.

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Popularity of the baby name Walter


Posts that mention the name Walter

Babies named for Frederick Douglass

American abolitionist Frederick Douglass (1818-1895)
Frederick Douglass

Black abolitionist leader Frederick Douglass was a former slave who became a renowned orator and author.

Born Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey in 1818, he spent the first twenty years of his life enslaved in Maryland. He managed to teach himself to read and write during this time.

“In 1838, he fled north and changed his name to Frederick Douglass” in order to elude slave-hunters. (His new surname was chosen by a friend who’d been reading The Lady of the Lake by Sir Walter Scott.)

Douglass began giving speeches about his life as a slave, and in 1845 published his first (and most famous) autobiography: Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave. According to one source, “Frederick Douglass was the most prominent black man in the United States” by the time of the Civil War.

Going by what I was able to find in the records, dozens of baby boys were named after Frederick Douglass during his lifetime. Some examples…

One of his later namesakes was Douglas Wilder (b. 1931), the first African-American to be elected governor of a U.S. state (Virginia).

Sources: Frederick Douglass – Wikipedia, Frederick Douglass – White House Historical Association, Frederick Douglass – American Battlefield Trust, FamilySearch.org, Find a Grave

Image: Frederick Douglass (c. 1879)

Babies born to Diego Maradona fan, named Mara, Dona, Diego

Argentine soccer player Diego Armando Maradona (1960-2020)
Diego Maradona

In July of 2011, Argentinian sportswriter Walter Rotundo and his partner Victoria welcomed twin baby girls.

Their names? Mara Delfina and Dona Isabella — “Mara” and “Dona” in honor of legendary Argentinian soccer player Diego Maradona. (Rotundo chose the names to commemorate Maradona’s performance in the 1986 World Cup specifically.)

In 2021, the couple became pregnant again. This time they were having a baby boy, and when they realized he might arrive on the first anniversary of Maradona’s death, they went ahead and scheduled a caesarean section for that day.

Their son was born in Buenos Aires on November 25. His name? Diego Amado — “Diego” as a final tribute to Maradona.

Sources:

Image: Diego Maradona

Popular baby names in Denmark, 2022

Flag of Denmark
Flag of Denmark

Denmark is second-most populous Nordic country, after Sweden. (The three smaller Nordic countries are Finland, Norway, and Iceland.)

Last year, Denmark welcomed 58,430 babies. The most popular names among these babies? Ella and William.

Here are Denmark’s top 50 girl names and top 50 boy names of 2022:

Girl Names

  1. Ella, 442 baby girls
  2. Freja, 413
  3. Alma, 409
  4. Frida, 403
  5. Agnes, 389
  6. Luna, 383
  7. Ida, 381
  8. Nora, 378
  9. Olivia, 377
  10. Sofia, 376
  11. Emma, 375
  12. Clara, 361
  13. Asta, 358
  14. Alberte, 337 (tie)
  15. Karla, 337 (tie)
  16. Lily, 321
  17. Ellie, 320
  18. Anna, 315
  19. Ellen, 303
  20. Esther, 292
  21. Astrid, 238
  22. Isabella, 235
  23. Lærke, 234
  24. Josefine, 231
  25. Laura, 226
  26. Mathilde, 220
  27. Emily, 215 (tie)
  28. Mille, 215 (tie)
  29. Merle, 207
  30. Saga, 201
  31. Victoria, 199
  32. Aya, 197 (tie)
  33. Maja, 197 (tie)
  34. Marie, 192
  35. Vera, 191
  36. Leonora, 181
  37. Hannah, 179
  38. Vilma, 176
  39. Andrea, 165
  40. Liva, 160
  41. Liv, 159
  42. Elina, 158
  43. Lea, 156 (tie)
  44. Molly, 156 (tie)
  45. Gry, 153
  46. Eva, 151
  47. Johanne, 149
  48. Ingrid, 146 (tie)
  49. Rosa, 146 (tie)
  50. Emilie, 137

Boy Names

  1. William, 560 baby boys
  2. Karl, 466
  3. Emil, 459
  4. Oscar, 455
  5. Malthe, 452
  6. Noah, 446
  7. Valdemar, 432
  8. Aksel, 428
  9. August, 398 (tie)
  10. Oliver, 398 (tie)
  11. Lucas, 396
  12. Alfred, 391
  13. Theo, 376
  14. Elias, 370
  15. Arthur, 364
  16. Otto, 332
  17. Elliot, 325
  18. Felix, 314
  19. Victor, 299
  20. Magnus, 296
  21. Hugo, 281
  22. Viggo, 277
  23. Matheo, 276
  24. Louie, 268
  25. Liam, 258
  26. Lauge, 257
  27. Anton, 252
  28. Theodor, 246
  29. Anker, 234
  30. Konrad, 233
  31. Nohr, 219
  32. Holger, 214
  33. Frederik, 205
  34. Alexander, 192
  35. Adam, 187
  36. Erik, 186
  37. Storm, 183
  38. Ebbe, 182 (tie)
  39. Luca, 182 (tie)
  40. Vincent, 174
  41. Albert, 173 (tie)
  42. Pelle, 173 (tie)
  43. Milas, 169
  44. Walter, 166
  45. Marius, 164 (tie)
  46. Vilhelm, 164 (tie)
  47. Asger, 161 (tie)
  48. Johan, 161 (tie)
  49. Christian, 159
  50. Villads, 152

The Kingdom of Denmark also includes two autonomous regions: Greenland and the Faroe Islands.

The top baby names in the Faroes in 2022 were Eva and Bartal (which is related to Bartholomew). Here’s more:

Girl names (Faroes)Boy names (Faroes)
1. Eva, 7 baby girls
2. Anna, 5 (4-way tie)
3. Elvira, 5 (4-way tie)
4. Olivia, 5 (4-way tie)
5. Sólja, 5 (4-way tie)
6. Bára, 4 (7-way tie)
7. Bjarta, 4 (7-way tie)
8. Bjørg, 4 (7-way tie)
9. Lilja, 4 (7-way tie)
10. Lív, 4 (7-way tie)
11. Ronja, 4 (7-way tie)
12. Tóra, 4 (7-way tie)
1. Bartal, 7 baby boys
2. Baldur, 5 (7-way tie)
3. Brandur, 5 (7-way tie)
4. Kristian, 5 (7-way tie)
5. Lukas, 5 (7-way tie)
6. Niels, 5 (7-way tie)
7. Nóa, 5 (7-way tie)
8. Rókur, 5 (7-way tie)
9. Gilli, 4 (4-way tie)
10. Mattias, 4 (4-way tie)
11. Ragnar, 4 (4-way tie)
12. Tóki, 4 (4-way tie)

Names used a single time in the Faroes last year include the girl names Døgg (“dew”) and Royða (“tufa“) and the boy names Bogi (“bow”) and Sproti (“sprout”).

Greenland’s top baby names of 2022, on the other hand, are still unknown at this point. Why? Because whoever edited the country’s English-language statistical booklet, Greenland in Figures 2023 [PDF], forgot to update the small section about baby names on page seven. :)

In 2021, the top baby names in Denmark were Alma and Oscar, the top baby names in the Faroes were Lea/Lív and Jónas, and the top baby names in Greenland were Lea/Luna and Aputsiaq/Marco.

Sources: Names of newborn children – Statistics Denmark, Births – Statistics Denmark, Nordic Countries – Wikipedia, Statistical Database (Names) – Hagstova Føroya, Nordic Names

Image: Adapted from Flag of Denmark (public domain)

What gave the baby name Levert a boost in the 1980s?

LeVert's single "Casanova" (1987).
LeVert single

The name Casanova — made famous during the 18th century by Italian adventurer and womanizer Giacomo Casanova — started popping up in the U.S. baby name data in the mid-1980s. It saw a modest increase in usage a few years later:

  • 1989: unlisted
  • 1988: 14 baby boys named Casanova
  • 1987: 11 baby boys named Casanova
  • 1986: unlisted

The spelling variant Cassanova debuted around the same time, in 1987.

What was influencing these names?

The catchy song “Casanova” by R&B vocal trio LeVert. It was released in mid-1987 and peaked at #5 on Billboard‘s Hot 100 chart. Though the group had multiple songs reach #1 on the R&B chart, “Casanova” was their strongest showing on the pop chart.

The group consisted of brothers Gerald and Sean LeVert — sons of O’Jays lead vocalist Eddie LeVert — and a third member, Marc Gordon.

Thanks to the success of the song, the French surname LeVert also saw its highest-ever usage in the late 1980s:

  • 1989: 17 baby boys named Levert
  • 1988: 19 baby boys named Levert [peak usage]
  • 1987: 7 baby boys named Levert
  • 1986: unlisted
  • 1985: unlisted

(The surname is rendered “Levert” in the data because the SSA strips out internal capitalization.)

Getting back to Casanova, though…what are your thoughts on “Casanova” as a first name?

P.S. Another member of the O’Jays, Walter Williams, was behind the peak usage of Shalawn and Seandra in the mid-1970s.

Sources: LeVert – Wikpedia, SSA