I don't know what this-jolly old-Jaundiced Jail,' Tom had paused to find a sufficiently complimentary and expressive name for the parental roof, and seemed to relieve his mind for a moment by the strong alliteration of this one, 'would be without you. Hard Times by Dickens, Charles View in context.
How popular is Walter? The somewhat popular name Walter was the 302nd Most Popular Boys Name in the United States in 2016. This top 500 contender has enjoyed a rank in the top 500 since 1880, when the Social Security Administration began keeping records. It reached its highest popularity RANKING of #10 in 1914.
The surname itself in a hereditary form is first recorded in the latter half of the 12th Century, and early examples include: Petrus Walteri in the pipe rolls of Suffolk in 1192, Conrad Walteri of Bronnbach, Wurzburg, Germany, in 1214, and Geoffrey Walter in the Subsidy Rolls of Sussex for the year 1296.