Walther
A Germanic surname from the old personal name Walter, meaning roughly “army ruler” or “powerful warrior.”
The #5,402 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 47,912 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Walther is a surname taken from the old Germanic given name Walter, also found in the form Walther. The name is built from elements meaning “power” or “rule” plus “army” or “warrior,” so its sense is roughly “ruler of the host” or “mighty warrior.” In German-speaking areas, Walther became a hereditary surname in the usual way: from an ancestor’s personal name rather than from a place or occupation.
History
The name is especially well known in medieval German literature, where Walther von der Vogelweide helped keep the form Walther prominent. English surname dictionaries also treat Walther as a spelling variant of Walter, with related forms such as Watt, Watts, Watkins, and Watson. As a surname, it is most at home in German-speaking families, though it also appears more widely through migration.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
A 19th-century surname dictionary notes Walther alongside other Walter-family forms, showing how widely that ancient personal name splintered into surnames.
From the historical record
“of an Ot-, Od-, etc., name] Ich wolt hern Otten milte nach der lenge mezzen. — Walther von der Vogel- weide, ' Otto und Friedrich,' i. OTTWAY 1 (Teut.) for the Teut. Otwig = OTWAY J Prosperous War [O.H.Ger. dt,”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)