Is "Walters" a jewish surname?

Question

And if so where is it descended from?

Answer 1

I don't think Barbara Walters is Jewish.

Answer 2

Walters: Germanic, meaning "rule" and "army"

Dutch, English, and German decent.

Not Jewish, unless by marriage.

Answer 3

No, it's German.

Answer 4

No>In Germany there are many having that name and most non Jewish

Answer 5

no

Answer 6

No It isnt

Answer 7

Walters: Last name origin & meaning:

English and German: patronymic from Walter.

Walter: Last name origin & meaning:

German, Swedish, and English: from a Germanic personal name composed of the elements wald ‘rule’ + heri, hari ‘army’. The personal name was introduced into England from France by the Normans in the form Walt(i)er, Waut(i)er.

Answer 8

I found this information for you re: the  surname Walters.

Surname: Walters

Recorded as Walter, Walters, Waldar, Walder, Walther, and occassionally as Wolter or Wolters, this is an ancient Anglo-Saxon surname. It derives from the pre 7th century Olde German personal name 'Waldhar', a compound of the elements "wasl", meaning rule, and "hari," an army. The personal name was introduced into England during the reign of Edward the Confessor (1042 - 1077), and after the Norman Conquest of 1066 was widely adopted firstly as a Christian name and later a surname as well. It is first recorded as Walterus in the Domesday Book of 1086, although the surname is much later being first recorded in the latter half of the 12th century with that of Petrus Walterus in the Feudal Documents of the Abbey of Bury St. Edmund's, in the county of Suffolk in 1182. The patronymic form emerges in the early part of the 14th Century, (see below), the final 's' on the name being a reduced form of 'son of'. William Walters, aged 27, was a very early colonist to the New World, settling in Virgina in 1618. Other early English church recordings include Elizabeth Walters who married Edward Clark at St. Michaels Cornhill, in the city of London in 1559, and Frederick Wolters at St Mary Magdalene, Bermondsey, on August 2nd 1807. The coat of arms granted in 1663 to William Walters of Cundall in Yorkshire, has the blazon of a silver field charged with a chevrons engrailed, between three black chess rooks. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of William Walters. This was dated 1327, in the Subsidy Rolls of Staffordshire, during the reign of King Edward 111, known as the Father of the Navy, 1327 - 1377. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

Hope this helps.

Answer 9

Any name can be Jewish.  A lot of names in the U.S. are identified as Jewish as a large portion of immigrants to the U.S. with certain surnames were Jewish while back in their home countries the same names were held by Jews and non Jews alike.

Surnames traditionally come from the father.  However, Orthodox and Conservative Judaism defines a Jew soley by the mother, not the father. They state they get the nation from the mother and the tribe from the father and if they don't have a Jewish father, they belong to the tribe of the nearest male relative on the mother's side of the family.  Whereas if they don't have a Jewish mother, they aren't considered Jewish.

Reform Judaism defines it differently.

Answer 10

Yes, if it is short for "Walter's son"

It is descended from a Jewish man whose father was named Walter.

It is also a Christian name, descended from a Christian man whose father was named Walter, or from other sources noted above.

Almost any European surname can crop up in Christian and Jewish families, because there were Jews all over Europe when people started using surnames.

"Cantor" is predominately Jewish, and I doubt there are many Jews named "Christian", but there may be some; John Christian falls in love, marries Rachel Cantor, a brilliant pediatrician with hair as black and glossy as a raven's wing, deep brown eyes and a voice as rich and sweet as dark chocolate; he converts, they brings the kids up Jewish. Their son Moses becoems a rabbi and takes jokes with good humor for the rest of his life; Moses Christian, rabbi.

Answer 11

no, it's british

Answer 12

no....some members of my family have Walters as a last name and we're not Jewish....

Answer 13

Well it certainly isn't a traditional Jewish name but that doesn't mean it isn't ! A lot of Jewish names were Anglicised during modern times for instance my G G grandmothers surname was Cantwell which is English but the 'real' name was Cantor. which deffo Jewish.

Surnames aren't a definite indication of a Jewish background. Some members of my family have the surnames Murphy and O'Brien so typically Irish BUT they are Jewish!!

Answer 14

It's a name that isn't specific to any religion. While many are Christian, they could just as likely be Jewish. BTW, Barbara Walters is indeed Jewish. One thing to remember is that Walters is also a common way to Anglicize a long, complicated Eastern European name. It's always a good idea to research your own ancestors with EllisIsland.org or the Census records to find out where they actually claimed to be from.