Walker

WAWK-er
English occupational name
"cloth-walker"

Walker Origin and Meaning

The name Walker is a boy's name of English origin meaning "cloth-walker".

Walker is both a Waspy surname name—as in the W in George W. Bush—but it also has a gentle ambling quality and a creative connection to such greats as writer Walker Percy and photographer Walker Evans, whose father was also named Walker.

As a common surname, Walker has many other notable namesakes, including author Alice, football great Herschel, blues guitarist T-Bone, and contemporary artist Kara.

Walker was a popular name around the turn of the twentieth century, reaching Number 296 in 1896, remained in use through 1955, then made a return in 1983, becoming a prime representative of the aspirational surnames of the 1980s and 90s.

In recent years, Walker has accelerated up the charts, entering the Top 100 for the first time in 2022. Parents may have been inspired to reconsider Walker when actress Idina Menzel chose it for her son back in 2009, while the trend for occupational names in general likely kept it climbing through the 2010s. The final push may have come from the 2021 reboot of the 90s western drama Walker, Texas Ranger,solidifying Walker as a cool, cowboy choice.

# 85 in the US

Walker Rank in US Top 1000

# 344 on Nameberry

Walker Rank in Nameberry Top 1000

Walker Popularity

Famous People Named Walker

  • Walker Hayes
    American country music singer
  • Walker Kirtland Hancock
    American sculptor
  • Walker Evans
    American photographer
  • Walker Percy
    American author
  • Walker Butler
    American jurist
  • Walker Connor
    American political scientist
  • Walker M. Curtiss
    American politician from Wisconsin
  • Walker Nathaniel Diggs
    son of actors Taye Diggs and Idina Menzel
  • George Herbert Walker Bush and George Walker Bush
    father and son former U.S. Presidents
  • Zachary Walker "Zac" Hanson
    American singer
  • Kyle Walker
    English professional footballer

Walker in Pop Culture

  • "Walker
    Texas Ranger," TV series about Sgt. Cordell Walker
  • Walker Boh
    character in the Shannara series by Terry Brooks
  • Walker
    character on animated series "Danny Phantom"
  • Walker
    character in film "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III"