Walser
surname · English · Latin script
Recorded for both men and women· direction only, no split published
Walser is a surname, most frequently recorded in Germany. In Liechtenstein it is the 23rd most common surname. It appears chiefly in English and German, written in the Latin script. Recorded meaning: from vallis / Wallis; Swiss Valais origin.
- CHSwitzerland1 in 3K◐
- ATAustria1 in 6.4K
- DEGermany1 in 37K
carrying the name, one hue, darker where it is more common. Hover a country for its figure.
- ≈6.0K ●
- Sources
- 130 ●
- 1 in 3.0K ◐
across 8 countries
5.2K records
Reference-verified
Switzerland
Meaning & origin●
from vallis / Wallis; Swiss Valais origin
Sources 1
- Deutsche Namenkunde: Unsere Familiennamen nach ihrer Entstehung und Bedeutung
Where in the world●
Sorted by bearers counted by national registers, records where none counts.
| Country | Most common spelling | Sources | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DE Germany | — | 3,015 | 2.7K rec. | — | listed | Walser | 98 |
| CH Switzerland | #284 | 2,789△ | 471 rec. | 1 in 3K | 2.8K | Walser | 58 |
| US United States | — | 2,782△ | 1K rec. | 1 in 120K | 2.8K | Walser | 130 |
| AT Austria | #483 | 1,005 | 556 rec. | — | — | Walser | 61 |
| LI Liechtenstein | #23 | 479 | 12 rec. | — | 209 | Walser | 14 |
| AR Argentina | — | 405 | 0 rec. | 1 in 112K | 405 | — | 1 |
| UA Ukraine | — | 47 | 48 rec. | — | — | Walser | 2 |
| BE Belgium | — | 38 | 39 rec. | — | — | Walser | 4 |
| GB United Kingdom | — | 33 | 20 rec. | — | — | Walser | 15 |
| SE Sweden | — | 23△ | 6 rec. | 1 in 444K | 23 | — | 7 |
| FR France | — | 23 | 0 rec. | 1 in 2.9M | 23 | — | 1 |
| ES Spain | — | 22 | 283 rec. | 1 in 2.3M | 22 | Walser | 14 |
Country figures for a list of names, at full precision, are available under licence rather than by scraping this table. How that works.
Languages●
- English26K56%
- German12K26%
- Spanish3.9K8%
- French1.3K3%
- 6961%
Show as table
| Name | Records | Note |
|---|---|---|
| English | 26,354 | 56% |
| German | 12,467 | 26% |
| Spanish | 3,878 | 8% |
| French | 1,280 | 3% |
| 696 | 1% |
Language is read off each record's context, not declared by the bearer; a share is of all records for this spelling.
Other recorded senses●
Walser is also recorded in 2 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.
In English, A member of a German-speaking community in Alpine Switzerland, Italy, Liechtenstein and Austria.
as a wordkaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)
In German, s. vallis und Wallis
as a nameDeutsche Namenkunde: Unsere Familiennamen nach ihrer Entstehung und Bedeutung
Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.
Over time●
Show as table
| Year | records |
|---|---|
| 1891 | 13 |
| 1901 | 17 |
| 1911 | 19 |
| 1921 | 30 |
| 1931 | 20 |
| 1941 | 29 |
| 1951 | 39 |
| 1961 | 29 |
| 1971 | 18 |
| 1981 | 30 |
| 1991 | 23 |
FR INSEE — Fichier des noms de famille (1891–2000) — 11 years between 1891–1991. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.
Notable people with this name●
- Karl Walserb. 1877CHSwiss painter (1877-1943)
- Robert Walserb. 1878CHSwiss writer (1878–1956)
- Martin Walserb. 1927DEGerman writer (1927–2023)
- Franziska Walserb. 1952DEGerman actress
- Harald Walserb. 1953ATAustrian politician and historian
- Johanna Walserb. 1957DEGerman translator
- Robert Walserb. 1958USAmerican musicologist
- Alissa Walserb. 1961DEGerman writer, painter, and translator (born 1961)
- Sven Walserb. 1963DEGerman actor
- Al Walserb. 1976LILiechtenstein singer
The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).
Evidence●
Attested in 21 sources across 13 countries.
| Country | Register | Year | Count | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CH Switzerland | BFS — Familiennamen der Wohnbevölkerung (surnames) | 2024 | 2.8K | #291 |
| US United States | Census Bureau — Surname Frequency 2010 | 2010 | 2.8K | #11,341 |
| US United States | Census Bureau — Surname Frequency 2000 | 2000 | 2.7K | #10,984 |
| US United States | Census Bureau — Surname Frequency 2020 | 2020 | 2.6K | #11,591 |
| AR Argentina | RENAPER — Apellidos (person counts, national) | — | 405 | — |
| LI Liechtenstein | Statistik Liechtenstein — Familiennamenstatistik (surnames) | 2020 | 209 | — |
| FR France | INSEE — Fichier des noms de famille (1891–2000) | 1951 | 39 | — |
| FR France | INSEE — Fichier des noms de famille (1891–2000) | 1981 | 30 | — |
| FR France | INSEE — Fichier des noms de famille (1891–2000) | 1921 | 30 | — |
| FR France | INSEE — Fichier des noms de famille (1891–2000) | 1961 | 29 | — |
| FR France | INSEE — Fichier des noms de famille (1891–2000) | 1941 | 29 | — |
| SE Sweden | Skatteverket — Sök hur många som har ett visst namn (living population) | — | 23 | #23,296 |
Reference works 3
- Nederlandse FamilienamenBank (Dutch surname bank; ex-Meertens Instituut, now CBG)2007
- Wikipedia surname tokens
- Wikidata name items (native-script + romanized given/family names)
These works list the name; their figures are licensed and are not reproduced here.
Register rows as of the 2026-09-12 data build · 39 rows in the corpus for this spelling.
Frequently asked questions
- How common is the name Walser?
- We estimate roughly 6.0 thousand people bear Walser (counting its spellings and scripts) across 8 countries in our records.
- In which country does Walser have the most bearers?
- Walser is most frequently recorded in Germany, where it is most often spelled walser.
- How common is Walser compared with other names?
- In Liechtenstein, Walser is the 23rd most common surname of 657 surnames recorded there.
- What does the name Walser mean?
- Recorded meaning: from vallis / Wallis; Swiss Valais origin
Query this name via API
curl https://api.mondonomo.ai/api/v1/name-graph/walserThe same payload this page is built from: spellings and scripts, countries and languages, related names, and the registers that attest the form. Rate-limited for casual use. Bulk access and licensing.
About this data
Data snapshot . Figures are rebuilt periodically and will change.
Statistics are aggregated from the Mondonomo name corpus; related names and etymology are inferred from the name graph; pronunciation and any machine-marked transliterations are model-generated. Read how the numbers are made, including their known failure modes, and where the data comes from.
Reference works we consult — surname dictionaries, official name registers, Wikidata and Wiktionary — are named directly, beside the claims they support. The per-country source counts also include datasets of person records: we publish how many there are and their authority tier, but not their names.
Cite this page Mondonomo, “Walser” — the 23rd most common surname in Liechtenstein. Data snapshot 2026-09-12.