as a First Name
From a Latinate short form of various old Germanic personal names derived from wald ‘rule’. This gave rise in the Middle Ages to a surname, borne notably by Peter Waldo, a 12th-century merchant of Lyons, who founded a reformist sect known as the Waldensians, which in the 16th century took part in the Reformation movement. In America the name is particularly associated with the poet and essayist Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82), whose father was a Lutheran clergyman.
| 3,283rd in the U.S. for 2011 |
Nicknames & variations
Quick facts
- Thousands
- of people in the U.S have this name
- 3,781
- to be exact (as of February 2011)
- Maine
- has the most people named Waldo per capita
- 1913
- marked the height of its popularity
0%
100%
68%
55+
55+
11%
30-54
30-54
20%
13-29
13-29
1%
0-12
0-12
Top state populations
U.S. Distribution Map
Top Twitterers with this name
Claim your spot as the most influential Waldo!
Tweet #wpnames to get on this list.
