Meaning: Its source is wealcere, an Old English name meaning "Cloth washer."

Popularity: The name Walker ranked 404th in popularity for males of all ages in a sample of 2000-2003 Social Security Administration statistics and 997th in popularity for males of all ages in a sample of the 1990 US Census.

Though this name appears on the 1990 U.S. Census lists, it is used by only a small percentage of the general population.

Narrative: An alternate, or possibly parallel, development of this surname was from the Middle English phrase wall kerr, meaning ''wall swamp.'' This might have been in reference to the location of a family homestead near a swamp and a city wall.