Overview
Walter is a German masculine given name of Germanic origin, composed of the elements walt- (Proto-Germanic *wald-) "power", "ruler", and hari (Proto-Germanic *χarja) "army".
The name was first popularized by the famous epic German hero Walther von Aquitaine and later with the writer Walther von der Vogelweide.
The name is first recorded in the 6th century, with Walthari son of Wacho, who was king of the Lombards during 539–546. Old Germanic forms are recorded as Walthari, Waltari, Walthar, Waltar, Waltere, Waldheri, Waldhere, Waltheri, Walthere, Walther, Walter, Waldher, and Valter. The Old English equivalent is Wealdhere, Old Norse has Valðar and Valdarr.
The name entered the French language as Gauthier, Spanish as Gutierre, Portuguese as Gualter and Italian as Gualtiero. The modern Dutch form of the name is Wouter. The German name has also been adopted in a number of languages in the spelling Valter.
From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).