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.

The graph will take a few moments to load. (Don't worry, it shouldn't take 9 months!) If it's taking too long, try reloading the page.


Popularity of the baby name Walter


Posts that mention the name Walter

Where did the baby name Chipper come from in 1945?

The characters Skeezix, Nina, and Chipper Wallet from the comic strip "Gasoline Alley" (May 1945)
Skeezix, Nina, and baby Chipper

The name Chipper first appeared in the U.S. baby name data in the middle of the 1940s:

  • 1948: unlisted
  • 1947: unlisted
  • 1946: 5 baby boys named Chipper
  • 1945: 7 baby boys named Chipper [debut]
  • 1944: unlisted
  • 1943: unlisted

Where did it come from?

A comic strip!

On April 1, 1945, Nina and Skeezix Wallet of the comic strip Gasoline Alley welcomed a baby boy.

Initially, the baby was simply called Chipper — a nickname chosen ahead of time by his father (who was overseas, serving in WWII).

Skeezix returned home to meet his son in early May. Soon after, on May 15th, the couple gave their son the legal name Thomas Walter Wallet, after both grandfathers. But they continued to call him Chipper.

Chipper Wallet went on to serve with the Seabees in Vietnam, and then become a doctor.

What are your thoughts on the baby name Chipper?

P.S. Chipper’s younger sister was named Clovia.

Sources:

Image: Clipping from the Daily Alaska Empire (5 May 1945)

[Latest update: Apr. 2024]

Where did the baby name Shalawn come from in 1974?

Twins Shalawn and Seandra Williams (in the lap of their mother, Nancy)
Shalawn and Seandra Williams

The name Shalawn debuted very impressively in the U.S. baby name data in 1974. It was the top girl-name debut of the year, and is currently tied for 45th-highest girl name debut of all time.

Shalawn’s arrival is also linked to the reappearance of a somewhat similar name, Seandra, in the data:

Girls named ShalawnGirls named Seandra
197676
19752410
197470*†31†
1973..
1972..
*Debut, †Peak usage

So where did these two names come from?

A pair of identical twin girls!

Twins Shalawn and Seandra were born to O’Jays singer Walter Williams and his wife Nancy in early 1974. (This was about a year after the O’Jays song “Love Train” [vid] hit #1 on Billboard‘s Hot 100 chart.)

Both Billboard and Jet magazines mentioned the twins in April, soon after they were born.

Jet followed up in June with a photo of the twins sitting on their mother’s lap. The caption noted that their nicknames were “Lovie” and “Dovie,” and that they had an older sister named Dawn.

I don’t know how Walter and Nancy came up with the twins’ names, but they seem to be elaborated forms of the male names Shawn and Sean (which are essentially the same name, just spelled differently).

What are your thoughts on the names Shalawn and Seandra? Which one do you prefer?

P.S. Another member of the O’Jays, Eddie LeVert, is associated with the debut of the name Levert in 1987.

Sources:

Image: Clipping from Ebony magazine (6 Jun. 1974)

Letter by letter: Popular baby boy names, 2013

letterpress letters

Wondering what the most popular J-names for baby boys are? How about Q-names?

Below are the 10 most popular boy names for each letter, A through Z. (The parenthetical notations show how the current rankings differ from the 2012 rankings.)

The two new #1 names that emerged in 2013 were Hunter, which replaced Henry, and Thomas, which replaced Tyler.

A-Names

1. Alexander, 14771 baby boys
2. Aiden, 13527
3. Anthony, 12164
4. Andrew, 11568
5. Aaron, 7246
6. Adrian, 6802 (was 8th)
7. Austin, 6441
8. Angel, 6320 (was 6th)
9. Ayden, 6035
10. Adam, 5193

B-Names

1. Benjamin, 13373 baby boys
2. Brayden, 7384
3. Brandon, 6180
4. Blake, 5601
5. Bentley, 5344
6. Brody, 4302
7. Bryson, 3783
8. Bryce, 3335
9. Brantley, 3171 (was 13th)
10. Braxton, 3078

Out of the top 10: Bryan, now ranked 11th.

C-Names

1. Christopher, 10765 baby boys
2. Carter, 9512 (was 4th)
3. Caleb, 9500 (was 2nd)
4. Christian, 9261 (was 3rd)
5. Connor, 7058 (was 6th)
6. Charles, 6955 (was 7th)
7. Cameron, 6809 (was 5th)
8. Colton, 6442
9. Chase, 5504
10. Cooper, 4843

D-Names

1. Daniel, 14140 baby boys
2. David, 12226
3. Dylan, 10058
4. Dominic, 6277
5. Damian, 3945
6. Declan, 3097 (was 7th)
7. Diego, 2905 (was 6th)
8. Derek, 1865 (was 9th)
9. Devin, 1828 (was 8th)
10. Damien, 1603

E-Names

1. Ethan, 16127 baby boys
2. Elijah, 13626
3. Eli, 7867
4. Evan, 7070
5. Easton, 4615
6. Elias, 3472 (was 7th)
7. Eric, 3233 (was 6th)
8. Ezra, 2708 (was 10th)
9. Edward, 2679 (was 8th)
10. Emmanuel, 2377 (was 9th)

F-Names

1. Francisco, 1688 baby boys
2. Finn, 1440 (was 3rd)
3. Fernando, 1424 (was 2nd)
4. Felix, 1171 (was 5th)
5. Fabian, 1091 (was 4th)
6. Frank, 996
7. Finnegan, 605
8. Finley, 562 (was 10th)
9. Frederick, 549
10. Franklin, 545 (was 8th)

G-Names

1. Gabriel, 11112 baby boys
2. Gavin, 7379
3. Grayson, 5500
4. Giovanni, 2964
5. Greyson, 2630 (was 9th)
6. George, 2522 (was 7th)
7. Grant, 2401 (was 6th)
8. Gael, 2296 (was 5th)
9. Gage, 2131 (was 8th)
10. Graham, 1876 (was 11th)

Out of the top 10: Garrett, now ranked 12th.

H-Names

1. Hunter, 8887 baby boys (was 2nd)
2. Henry, 8802 (was 1st)
3. Hudson, 4628
4. Hayden, 2933
5. Harrison, 2491
6. Hector, 1248
7. Holden, 1198
8. Hugo, 653
9. Hayes, 411 (was 13th)
10. Harvey, 399 (was 15th)

Hunter became the new #1 H-name in 2013.

Out of the top 10: Harley, now ranked 11th, and Harper, now 14th.

I-Names

1. Isaac, 10005 baby boys
2. Isaiah, 7754
3. Ian, 5374
4. Ivan, 2846
5. Iker, 1612
6. Israel, 1457
7. Ismael, 741
8. Izaiah, 634
9. Ibrahim, 631 (was 10th)
10. Issac, 585 (was 9th)

J-Names

1. Jacob, 17976 baby boys
2. Jayden, 14656
3. James, 13416
4. Jackson, 12488 (was 6th)
5. Joseph, 12095
6. Joshua, 11680 (was 4th)
7. John, 10588
8. Jack, 8506 (was 9th)
9. Jonathan, 8478 (was 8th)
10. Jaxon, 7479 (was 13th)

Out of the top 10: Jordan, now ranked 12th.

K-Names

1. Kevin, 5892 baby boys
2. Kayden, 4386
3. Kaiden, 3076 (was 6th)
4. Kaleb, 2833 (was 3rd)
5. Kaden, 2606
6. Kyle, 2563 (was 4th)
7. Kenneth, 2159
8. Kingston, 2114 (was 9th)
9. King, 2085 (was 11th)
10. Kai, 1956 (was 8th)

Out of the top 10: Keegan, now ranked 11th.

L-Names

1. Liam, 18002 baby boys
2. Logan, 12270
3. Lucas, 11451
4. Luke, 9497 (was 5th)
5. Landon, 8679 (was 4th)
6. Levi, 7339
7. Lincoln, 4010 (was 8th)
8. Luis, 3976 (was 7th)
9. Leo, 3473
10. Leonardo, 2891

M-Names

1. Mason, 17591 baby boys
2. Michael, 15366
3. Matthew, 13226
4. Micah, 3631
5. Maxwell, 3607 (was 7th)
6. Mateo, 3547 (was 9th)
7. Max, 3492 (was 5th)
8. Miles, 3385 (was 6th)
9. Miguel, 2874 (was 8th)
10. Marcus, 2497

N-Names

1. Noah, 18090 baby boys
2. Nathan, 9620
3. Nicholas, 7078
4. Nolan, 4715 (was 5th)
5. Nathaniel, 4461 (was 4th)
6. Nicolas, 2109
7. Nehemiah, 919
8. Noel, 774
9. Nash, 596 (was 10th)
10. Nico, 561 (was 11th)

Out of the top 10: Nikolas, now ranked 11th.

O-Names

1. Owen, 8702 baby boys
2. Oliver, 7209
3. Oscar, 2225
4. Omar, 1873
5. Orion, 743
6. Orlando, 465
7. Odin, 447
8. Otto, 338 (was 10th)
9. Omari, 318 (was 8th)
10. Oakley, 288 (was 11th)

Out of the top 10: Osvaldo, now ranked 11th.

P-Names

1. Parker, 5622 baby boys
2. Preston, 2636
3. Patrick, 2566
4. Paul, 2017 (was 5th)
5. Peter, 1833 (was 6th)
6. Peyton, 1833 (was 4th)
7. Paxton, 1346
8. Pedro, 922
9. Phillip, 858
10. Phoenix, 775 (was 11th)

Out of the top 10: Pablo, now ranked 13th.

Q-Names

1. Quinn, 875 baby boys
2. Quentin, 722
3. Quinton, 479
4. Quincy, 416
5. Quintin, 248
6. Quinten, 161
7. Quinlan, 59
8. Quade, 34 (was 15th)
9. Quadir, 32 (was 10th)
10. Quran, 31 (was 11th)

Out of the top 10: Quincey, now ranked 11th, and Quin, now 13th.

R-Names

1. Ryan, 9808 baby boys
2. Robert, 6641
3. Ryder, 3750
4. Roman, 2858 (was 6th)
5. Richard, 2770 (was 4th)
6. Riley, 2531 (was 5th)
7. Ryker, 2462 (was 8th)
8. Rylan, 1882 (was 7th)
9. Ricardo, 1421
10. Reid, 1364 (was 12th)

Out of the top 10: Raymond, now ranked 11th.

S-Names

1. Samuel, 10957 baby boys
2. Sebastian, 7495
3. Silas, 3367 (was 7th)
4. Sawyer, 3142 (was 6th)
5. Santiago, 3015 (was 4th)
6. Steven, 2850 (was 3rd)
7. Sean, 2180 (was 5th)
8. Simon, 1592 (was 12th)
9. Seth, 1578 (was 8th)
10. Spencer, 1440

Out of the top 10: Stephen, now ranked 11th.

T-Names

1. Thomas, 6708 baby boys (was 2nd)
2. Tyler, 6590 (was 1st)
3. Tristan, 3970
4. Timothy, 3016
5. Theodore, 2397 (was 7th)
6. Tucker, 2220
7. Tanner, 2029 (was 5th)
8. Travis, 1571 (was 9th)
9. Trevor, 1520 (was 8th)
10. Trenton, 1319

Thomas became the new #1 T-name in 2013.

U-Names

1. Uriel, 567 baby boys
2. Uriah, 488
3. Urijah, 298
4. Ulises, 270
5. Ulysses, 164
6. Umar, 94 (was 7th)
7. Unknown, 85 (was 6th) [not a name; used when a name is unknown]
8. Uziel, 77
9. Uzziah, 51 (was 10th)
10. Usman, 39 (was 15th)

Out of the top 10: Usher, now ranked 11th.

V-Names

1. Vincent, 3829 baby boys
2. Victor, 2715
3. Vihaan, 426
4. Valentino, 329 (was 6th)
5. Vicente, 317 (was 4th)
6. Vincenzo, 285 (was 5th)
7. Van, 252 (was 8th)
8. Vaughn, 247 (was 9th)
9. Vance, 244 (was 7th)
10. Valentin, 237

W-Names

1. William, 16495 baby boys
2. Wyatt, 8490
3. Wesley, 2819
4. Weston, 2473
5. Waylon, 1190
6. Walter, 930
7. Walker, 833
8. Warren, 577
9. Wade, 483
10. Winston, 390 (was 11th)

Out of the top 10: Wilson, now ranked 11th.

X-Names

1. Xavier, 4933 baby boys
2. Xander, 1687
3. Xzavier, 420
4. Xavi, 217
5. Xavion, 81
6. Xaiden, 76
7. Xavian, 63
8. Xavior, 55
9. Xayden, 53
10. Xzander, 43 (was 12th)

Out of the top 10: Xavien, now ranked 11th.

Y-Names

1. Yahir, 570 baby boys
2. Yusuf, 414
3. Yosef, 328
4. Yousef, 249 (was 5th)
5. Yael, 243 (was 4th)
6. Yair, 206 (was 10th)
7. Yadiel, 202 (was 8th)
8. Yisroel, 179 (was 9th)
9. Yehuda, 174 (was 6th)
10. Youssef, 173 (was 12th)

Out of the top 10: Yandel, now ranked 14th.

Z-Names

1. Zachary, 5685 baby boys
2. Zayden, 2097 (was 3rd)
3. Zane, 1719 (was 2nd)
4. Zander, 1586 (was 5th)
5. Zion, 1514 (was 4th)
6. Zaiden, 956
7. Zachariah, 744
8. Zayne, 576 (was 9th)
9. Zackary, 463 (was 8th)
10. Zain, 360 (was 11th)

Out of the top 10: Zechariah, now ranked 11th.

Here are the 2012 rankings, if you want to check them out.

U.S. Baby Names 2013: Most popular names, Top girl-name debuts, Top boy-name debuts, Biggest girl-name changes, Biggest boy-name changes, Top first letters, Top lengths, Top girl names by letter, Top boy names by letter

Image: Adapted from Wood letterpress type at Washington University in St. Louis in 2011 by Michellecornelison under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Popular and unique baby names in Quebec (Canada), 2013

Flag of Quebec
Flag of Quebec

Quebec’s top baby names of 2013 were announced yesterday.

According to data from the Régie des rentes du Québec (RRQ), the most popular baby names last year were Lea and William.

Here are Quebec’s top 20 girl names and top 20 boy names of 2013:

Girl names

  1. Lea, 625 baby girls
  2. Emma, 500
  3. Olivia, 491
  4. Florence, 455
  5. Alice, 439
  6. Zoe, 415
  7. Rosalie, 404
  8. Juliette, 366
  9. Charlie, 343
  10. Chloe, 339
  11. Charlotte, 332
  12. Sofia, 304
  13. Jade, 302
  14. Mia, 299
  15. Eva, 289
  16. Camille, 286
  17. Victoria, 284
  18. Anais, 274
  19. Beatrice, 265
  20. Laurence, 260 (tie)
  21. Maeva, 260 (tie)

Boy names

  1. William, 823 baby boys
  2. Nathan, 771
  3. Samuel, 704
  4. Alexis, 699
  5. Olivier, 694
  6. Felix, 692
  7. Thomas, 692
  8. Liam, 683
  9. Jacob, 630
  10. Gabriel, 602
  11. Antoine, 516
  12. Logan, 516
  13. Raphael, 498
  14. Noah, 463
  15. Xavier, 441
  16. Benjamin, 420
  17. Emile, 413
  18. Charles, 397
  19. Adam, 389
  20. Leo, 386

Charlie is new to the girls’ top 10. In 2012, it ranked 12th.

On the boys’ side, Jayden is on the rise as well — from 38th in 2012 to 35th in 2013. (In the U.S., Jayden has been falling for a few years now.)

Finally, here are some baby names that were used only once or twice in Quebec last year:

Rare girl namesRare boy names
Alaska (1), Alutchainah Winfrey (1), Cheleby-Prettey (1), Divine Jeremiah (1), Etye Tzirl (1), Fanny-Jade (1), Galaxyanne (1), Golding Merly (1), Iokennorehseriio (1), K La (1), Kellixia (1), Khaleesi (2), Khlde (1), Kinda Love (1), Kukuess (1), Libertad-Quillay (1), Luna Love (1), Luxshiny (1), Mamba Gabrielle (1), Marie-Neige (2), Milky (1), Nelricka (1), O-Feely (1), Nermine (2), Peggy Evie Maggie (2), Reness-May (1), Rougui (2), Rulx-Jeffrey (1), Schrolding Sarry (1), Shine Present (1), Skysea (1), Walter-Lynn (1), Zoolee (1)Aggaajuk (1), Best Blessing (1), Beckham (2), Charm Henri (1), Chumly (1), Clarenceford (1), D-Reck (1), Dick-Yan (1), Djeepy (1), Edwidge Lovensky (1), Ettuk (2), Fhitzjericho (1), Fox Henri (1), Frignol (1), Gayden (1), Hunter Chace (1), Indrix (1), Lafleche (2), Lucassie (2), Meyroi Deliver Midy (1), Micipsa (1), Nhel Rein (1), Noonard (1), Nyko (2), Queben (1), Rhodeelny (1), Sampo (1), Shragy (2), Syphax (2), Vwila (1), Warrior (1), Wedgy (1), Woody Tommy (1), Za-Ak (1)

Sources: Partenariat Données Québec, List of Baby Names – Retraite Québec

Image: Adapted from Flag of Quebec (public domain)