This surname is derived from an occupation. 'the walker,' i.e. fuller: 'a term applied to a fuller.

Warrick; v. Warwick.

A trade name from Old English wealcere, ME. walker, a fuller or thickener of woollen cloth, Latin fullo. The 'waulk mill' still preserves the name in many parishes. Thomas dictus Walkar in record in Berwick in 1324 (Cambus., 39), William Walkere held land in Inuernys in 1361 (REM., p. 305), and Andrew and John fulloni were tenants of the Douglas in the barony of Buittle in 1376 (RHM., I, p. lx). Johannes Walker was juror on an inquest held in the episcopal lands of Aldrochty in 1393 (REM., p. 205), Donald Walcare held land in St. Leonards, Edinburgh, in 1457 (Neubotel, 284), Johannes Walcar alias hatmaker was made burgess of Perth, 1546 (Mill, Plays, p. 265), and Alexander Walker had a charter of feu-ferm of the fuller's mill in Burnemouth, c. 1560 (RD., p. 474). The Craft of Walkeris, Wakers, or Waulkers of Edinburgh obtained a seal of cause in August, 1500, from the magistrates of the city (Maitland, History of Edinburgh, p. 308). In Glasgow there is mention in 1454 of "The Kyngis strayt the qwhilk is callit the Walcargat" (LCD., p. 177), in Latin documents Vicus fullonum. It was the old name of the Saltmarket till about the middle of the seventeenth century. Valcar 1526, Valcer 1522, Valker 1583, Waker 1681, Walcair 1590, Walcar 1511, Walcare 1486, Walcer 1493, Waulcar 1555. In the Highlands Walker is used as a rendering of Mac an fhucadair, for which See under Macnucator.

(English) 1 Fuller or Thickener (of cloth) [Middle English walker(e (Middle Scottish walcar), Old English w(e)alcere ( = Dutch and Ger. walker); from Old English w(e)alcan, to roll, turn, full] Geoffrey le Walkere.—Hand. Rolls.

She [Queen Guinevere] curst the weaver and the walker That clothe that had wrought.—‘The Boy and Mantle,’ 53-4: Bp. Percy's Folio MS.

Wobstaris [weavers], walcaris, and bonet makaris.—Burgh Recds. Aberdeen, A.D. 1531.

In the early Manchester directories all the fullers and cloth-dressers were called walkers.—Lanc. Gloss., p. 276.

Walker, a Northumbrian township, prob. owes its name to a cloth-walker.

2 the Anglo-Saxon pers. name W(e)alchere, earlier W(e)alhhere [from Old English W(e)alh, foreigner, Welshman + here, army] A Watcher was, an 11th-cent. bishop of Durham.

(late) 3 Pedestrian (a nickname) [same etym. as 1]

This is one of the English names which, though little known in Ireland in mediaeval times, has become very numerous in north-east Ulster and in Dublin, Walker is an Old-English word for a fuller. Bibl

“Cloth Worker” (Trampler on Cloth) in Old English. See also Tucker and Fuller.

(English) One who cleaned and thickened cloth, a fuller; one who came from Walker (marsh by the Roman wall), in Northumberland.

(from an ancestor's occupation) A fuller of woolen cloth. (The name is pronounced Val-ker.)

1. Anglo-Saxon wealcere, a fuller. In the N. of England, fullers' earth is called "walker's clay," and a fulling-mill a "walk-mill." In Scotland, to mailt, or wauk, still means to full cloth. 2. A forest officer appointed to walk about a certain space of ground committed to his care. Nelson's Laws of Game. This ranks among numerous surnames, there being about 250 traders in London who bear it.

An inspector of a forest.

In the north of England and south of Scotland a fulling—mill is still called a walk—mill. This name may signify either a fuller or an officer whose duty consisted in walking or inspecting a certain space of forest ground.

From the Old Norse, Valgarðr; from the Dutch, Walkart, Walker; from the Flemish, Walckiers; from the German, Walke, Walker; in the Domesday Book, Walcher; a personal name.

Walker: Cloth before the introduction of the roller had to be trodden underfoot. In Wyckliffe’s version of the Transfiguration he describes Christ’s raiment as shining so as no “fullers or walkers of cloth” could whiten. Langland, in describing the process of cloth manufacture, says: “Cloth that cometh fro the wevyng Is nought comely to wear Till it be fulled under foot, Or in fullying stokkes, Washen well with water.

And with taseles craccked Y-ton-ked and y-teynted, And under tailleurs hands.”

Walker. —This name is mainly characteristic of the midlands and of the north of England. It is comparatively infrequent in the counties between the Wash and the Thames. It is absent or rare in the southern part of England south of a line joining the mouths of the Thames and the Severn. Its great home in the midlands is in the counties of Derby and Notts. In the north it is most frequent in Durham and Yorkshire. It crosses the Scottish border, not by way of Northumberland, where it is infrequent, but through Cumberland into the county of Dumfries, and it is fairly represented over Scotland, except in the extreme north. In Chapter I. I have referred to the general distribution of names connected with the cloth trade. Walker, which is derived from the Anglo - Saxon word "wealcere," a fuller, is synonymous with Tucker. In a statute of Elizabeth, a person of this occupation is referred to as "Clothe - Fuller, otherwise called Tucker or Walker" (Bardsley). The early fashion was to tread out the cloth; and even now in the north of England fuller's earth is called "walker's clay." It is remarkable that the absence or rarity of Walker in the south of England is supplied by Tucker and Fuller. Tucker takes its place in the south - west, and, in fact, in almost all the southern counties as far east as Hants and Wilts. Fuller takes its place in the south - eastern counties of Kent and Sussex.

The surname Walker comes from the Old English ‘wealcere’, which is another name for a fuller. A fuller or walker was a person who trod cloth in a trough in the fulling process, which is mentioned in the fourteenth-century poem Piers Plowman where it is said: Cloth that cometh fro the wevying (i.e. weaving) Is nought comely to were Tyl it be fulled under fote.

Thus the stamping and pressing practised by the walker or fuller required much the same attributes as a modern-day grape presser in Spain or France.

The name Walker is popular all over England, but is found in greatest concentration along a band stretching up from Nottingham and Derby through West Yorkshire to Durham. However, in the Durham region and in Northumbria the name Walker may occasionally be a place name, originally being given to a person who came from Walker in Northumbria. This name is a derivation of ‘marsh by the (Roman) wall’. This derivation comes out more clearly in the close name Waller, which in one variation comes from being a location name for ‘a dweller at the wall’.

The surnames Fuller and Tucker derive from the same profession.

The first mention of the surname Walker is in the Documents for the Abbey of Bec, where in the 1248 records for Warwickshire one Richard le Walkere is mentioned.

The Walker Cup is a golf trophy awarded to the winner of a competition between amateur men’s teams from the United States and the British Isles. Held every other year since 1922, the venue alternates between the two countries.

One of the earliest American feminists was Mary Edwards Walker (1832—1919). She attracted attention to the cause by wearing men’s clothes, and later served as a nurse during the American Civil War. In 1897 she established a women’s colony known as ‘Adamless Eden’.

There are 8 towns in the United Kingdom which are name related-Walker, Walker Fold, Walkerburn, Walkeringham, Walkerith, Walkering, Walker’s Green and Walkerton. Canada also has a Walkerton, while the United States has 13 Walker- related towns including 7 Walkers. Both South Africa and Australia have Walkervilles. Walker-named geographic features are common and include Walker Coy Island in the Bahamas.

With about 180,000 namesakes Walker is the 18th most popular surname in England and Wales. There are over 19,000 Walkers in Scotland where the name is 26th in popularity. Walker is notably popular in and around Leeds where an estimated one in about 145 families bears the name. In order Teesside, Bradford and Nottingham are other Walker strongholds.

Around the world Walkers are most common in Auckland (one in 449 families), Wellington (one in 460) and Canberra (one in 479). The United States has more Walkers than the entire population of Manchester-an estimated total of just over 510,000 makes this their 21st most popular surname.