Wouter

Wouter is a masculine name that represents the form of the traditional German name Walter in Frisian and Dutch. Its meanings include 'the one who rules in the army', 'the ruler of the army', and 'the army leader'. The name has its roots in Old High German and is derived from the terms waltan, which means 'to rule' or 'to govern', and heri, which means 'the army' or 'the warrior'.

What does the name Wouter mean?

The masculine name Wouter, a Frisian and Dutch variant of the old German name Walter, stands for 'the one who rules in the army', 'the ruler of the army', and 'the army leader'. It has Old High German origins and is derived from the Old High German words waltan ('to rule', 'to govern' or 'the ruler') and heri ('the army', 'the war band', 'the army leader' or 'the warrior'). In the Middle Ages, the name was popularized by the significant German-speaking poet and minstrel Walther von der Vogelweide. The earliest forms of the name are Walthari and Waltheri. Additionally, there are variants such as Valder, Valther, and Walder (Danish), Valter (Danish, Estonian, Finnish, Norwegian, and Swedish), Walther (German and Danish), Wolter (Low German), Woidda (Bavarian), Walti, Wali, and Walo (Swiss German), Walt (English), Valtteri (Finnish), Gauthier, Gautier, and Gaucher (French), Gualtiero and Valtiero (Italian), Gualterius and Gualtherus (Latin), Valters (Latvian), Wout (Dutch), Valtar and Valtare (Norwegian), Guálter and Gualtério (Portuguese), Valtier and Valtierra (Romansh), Volter (Swedish), Gutierre, Gualtierre, and Galtero (Spanish), Valti, Valtika, and Valkó (Hungarian), Waller (Rhenish), as well as Waltrina.

Where does the name Wouter come from?

The name Wouter has Old High German origins and means among other things 'the one who rules in the army' and 'the army leader'. The components consist of waltan, which means 'to rule', 'to govern' or 'the ruler', and heri, which refers to 'the army', 'the war band', 'the army leader' or 'the warrior'. It is prevalent in Frisian, Dutch, and Netherlandic languages.

How do you pronounce Wouter?

Wouter is pronounced approximately like 'Vauter'.

When is the name day of Wouter?

Wouter celebrates his name day on several dates: January 22, March 23, May 17, November 16, November 29, and December 10.

Popularity

In Germany, Wouter is a rather rare name. In 2015, it ranked 3,972nd on the list of the most common male baby names. Over the last ten years, Wouter has been given as a first name fewer than 10 times, placing it at 8,008th in the ten-year statistics. From 2010 to 2024, it ranks 9,767th.

Famous people

• Wouter Barendrecht (Dutch film producer)
• Wouter C. Braat (Dutch archaeologist)
• Wouter Claes (Belgian badminton player)
• Wouter Corstjens (Dutch football player)
• Wouter Crabeth (Dutch painter)
• Wouter Crabeth2 (Dutch painter)
• Wouter de Backer (singer known as 'Gotye')
• Wouter de Vogel (Dutch football player)
• Wouter Degroote (Belgian footballer)
• Wouter Gudde (footballer from the Netherlands)
• Wouter Hamel (Dutch jazz singer)
• Wouter Hanegraaff (Dutch philosopher)
• Wouter Janssen (Dutch DJ (Showtek))
• Wouter Marinus (footballer from the Netherlands)
• Wouter Mol (Dutch racing cyclist)
• Wouter Olde Heuvel (Dutch speed skater)
• Wouter Poels (racing cyclist)
• Wouter Scheelen (Belgian footballer)
• Wouter Spoelman (Dutch chess player)
• Wouter Sybrandy (racing cyclist from the Netherlands)