Walter

/ˈwɒltə/

//ˈwɒltə// name

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"walter" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“Walter” has 9 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #3,917. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#3,917
frequency rank, English
1,759
“W” headwords
9
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A male given name from the Germanic languages.

Corpus desk

Index EN-walter · Walter · English

Walter · rank #3,917 · 9 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #3,917
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 9 variants
  • BOOK-MID 1,759
  • PHOTO-FINISH universities

Nearest frequency peer: universities (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “Walter”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “Walter” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

Walter vs Water
83% similar
Walter vs waste
50% similar
Walter vs waltz
50% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for Walter
PropertyValue
HeadwordWalter
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechProper noun
IPA/ˈwɒltə/
Letters6
Frequency rank#3,917
Misspellings tracked9
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “Walter”

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).Walterlands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Same rarity band neighbours include “universities” (#3,916), “Wisconsin” (#3,918), “tube” (#3,915). Among 1,759 “W” headwords, “Walter” is #3,917. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 9 spelling variants around Walter (IPA /ˈwɒltə/), aproper noun. Corpus frequency is #3,917 among 1,759 “W” headwords. Wiktionary lists 4 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for Walter, with forms such as "awlter", "waletr", and "wallter". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "Water", "waste", "waltz", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: A Germanic name, from Middle English Walter, from Old Northern French Waltier, from Frankish *Waltheri (compare Old High German Waltheri, which see for more details), from Proto-West Germanic *Waldahari, from Proto-Germanic *Waldaharjaz, from *waldą (“ruler… The correct English form is Walter, spelled W-A-L-T-E-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    A male given name from the Germanic languages.
  2. 2
    A surname.
  3. 3
    An unincorporated community in Cullman County, Alabama, United States.
  4. 4
    A township in Lac qui Parle County, Minnesota, United States.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how Walter appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Whitmore. And so am I; my name is Walter Whitmore. / How now! why start'st thou? what! doth death affright? Suffolk. Thy name affrights me, in whose sound is death. / A cunning man did calculate my birth, / And told me that by Water I should die. / Yet let not this make thee be bloody-minded; / Thy name is - Gaultier, being rightly sounded.
  2. And with some appellations, the contrary applies. Like Walter, for instance. You can't be Walter in a pram. You can't be Walter until you're about seventy-five in my view.

Etymology

A Germanic name, from Middle English Walter, from Old Northern French Waltier, from Frankish *Waltheri (compare Old High German Waltheri, which see for more details), from Proto-West Germanic *Waldahari, from Proto-Germanic *Waldaharjaz, from *waldą (“ruler”) + *harjaz (“army, host”). Related to Old English Waldhere. Compare herald and Harold, in which these elements are reversed.

This word in other languages

Gautier(Français)Walter(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • awlter
  • waletr
  • wallter
  • walterr
  • waltre
  • waltter
  • watler
  • wlater
  • wwalter

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of Walter - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

awlter2waletr2wallter1walterr1waltre2waltter1watler2wlater2
Edit distance from "Walter"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "Walter"?
"Walter" is spelled W-A-L-T-E-R. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈwɒltə/.
What does "Walter" mean?
As a proper noun, "Walter" means: A male given name from the Germanic languages.
What words are commonly confused with "Walter"?
"Walter" is commonly confused with "Water", "waste", "waltz". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "Walter"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "Walter" is /ˈwɒltə/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "Walter"?
A Germanic name, from Middle English Walter, from Old Northern French Waltier, from Frankish *Waltheri (compare Old High German Waltheri, which see for more details), from Proto-West Germanic *Waldahari, from Proto-Germanic *Waldaharjaz, from *wal... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "Walter", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

writes#3,920script#3,908breast#3,927salary#3,906

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (9 here; floor ≥5).

regard9 variantscrossed9 variantsexpand9 variantsinches9 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list