boy's name
Walker
WAW-ker
- Origin English
- Gender Boy
- Syllables 2
- Letters 6
- Popularity Top 100 (US)
- Births on record 51,699
the United States
#78
2025 births
Walker is a boy's name of English origin meaning "a fuller of cloth." It is an occupational surname, and the trade it names involved trampling woollen cloth underfoot in water to thicken and clean it — walking it, in the literal sense.
- Walker is a name of English origin.
- Peaked in 2022, when 4,408 babies were given the name.
- It has been rising over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 770 babies in the United States is given this name.
- 2 syllables, with the stress on syllable 1.
Walker over time
Births per decade in the United States, 1880s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2025, not a full ten years.
Show the numbers
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 1880s | 266 |
| 1890s | 294 |
| 1900s | 242 |
| 1910s | 833 |
| 1920s | 1,098 |
| 1930s | 710 |
| 1940s | 720 |
| 1950s | 580 |
| 1960s | 394 |
| 1970s | 547 |
| 1980s | 841 |
| 1990s | 3,783 |
| 2000s | 6,510 |
| 2010s | 10,236 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 21,897 |
What Walker means
Walker means one who walks cloth — a fuller. The name records a specific industrial process rather than the ordinary sense of walking, which is why it belongs alongside Fuller and Tucker, two other surnames for the same trade in different English dialects.
Where Walker comes from
Walker comes from the Middle English walkere, from a verb meaning to full cloth. Fulling cleaned and thickened newly woven wool by pounding it in water with fuller's earth, and before mechanization the pounding was done by foot — workers stood in troughs and trod the cloth for hours. The trade produced three regional surnames for the same job: Walker in the north and west, Fuller in the south-east, and Tucker in the south-west, so the surname reveals where a family came from as much as what they did. Water-powered fulling mills replaced foot-walking from the medieval period onward. Walker moved into use as a given name in modern America.
Walker in use
Walker, Fuller and Tucker are the same job in three English dialects — the surname tells you which part of the country a family came from.
How popular is Walker?
In 2025, Walker was given to 4,303 babies in the United States, ranking #78 that year. It is one of the most popular names in the United States.
Where Walker is used
US figures omit any name given to fewer than five babies in a year, so the rarest names are absent from the source rather than absent from use. Data & sources.
Names that peaked alongside Walker
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Walker also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Walker over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
1 nickname for Walker
Each one is a name in its own right — the figure underneath is how it is doing today, so you can see which short forms are rising and which have faded.
Sibling names for Walker
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Walker — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Walker
What does the name Walker mean?
Walker means a fuller of cloth — someone who trod woollen cloth in water to thicken it.
Is Walker related to Fuller and Tucker?
Yes. All three surnames name the same trade in different English dialects.
Was Walker originally a surname?
Yes, an English occupational surname, later adopted as a given name in America.
How popular is the name Walker?
In 2025, Walker was given to 4,303 babies in the United States, ranking #78 that year. It is one of the most popular names in the United States.
Is Walker a girl's or a boy's name?
Walker is given almost entirely to boys in birth records.
How many syllables are in Walker?
Walker has 2 syllables.
What are the nicknames for Walker?
Walker is usually shortened to Wally.
Is Walker a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Walker currently ranks #78 in the United States. It has been rising over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.