Given name & surname
Gunter
“a warrior”
In German use, Gunter is a variant of Gunther. One German interpretation is “a warrior.”
Meaning & origin
What it means
In German use, Gunter is a variant of Gunther. One German interpretation is “a warrior.”
Explained through its name family
Where it comes from
In German use, Gunter is a variant of Günther. An origin associated with Günther is Germanic. In German use, Gunter is a variant of Gunther. An origin associated with Gunther is German.
Explained through its name family
How it developed
From German Gunther, from Old High German Gundheri, from Proto-West Germanic *Gunþihari, from Proto-Germanic *Gunþiharjaz, built from Proto-Germanic *gunþiz + *harjaz.
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1929. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Gunter through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 397
- 397 boys · 0 girls
- Most popular year
- 2015
- 17 babies
- 2025
- 7
- #10,041 for boys
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- −30%
- Easing
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 7 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 10,041 among boys’ names. Average annual use for boys was 30.4% lower in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. Its largest published annual count for boys was 17 in 2015. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 1,022 as a first name in 2020; 23,190 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Gunter’s family of names
In East Central German usage, Gunter has a diminutive in Gunt. In English usage, Gunter shares a linguistic root with the Danish form Gunnar. In German usage, Gunter has a related form in Gunther.
Inner ring: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Around the world
Gunter has relatives in 9 languages.
7 related names in 9 languages. Point at a dot, or tab to the map and use the arrow keys.
Nicknames & forms 4
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Across languages 6
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
People named Gunter
- Gunter DemnigGerman artist (born 1947)
- Gunter Paulibusinessman, pedagogue, pioneerborn 1956
- Gunther of BohemiaChristian mystic955–1045
- Gunter HampelGerman jazz musician (1937–2026)
- Gunter Van HandenhovenBelgian footballerborn 1978
- Gunter GabrielGerman singer (1942–2017)
- Gunter ThiebautBelgian footballerborn 1977
- Gunter HennGerman architectborn 1947
- Gunter SekoraGerman association football playerborn 1950
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Appears in
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