Walter Cuthbert Blythe is the second child and son of Anne and Gilbert Blythe, named for Anne's dead father Walter Shirley, and her adoptive "parents", Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert. He is, by far, the handsomest of the six Blythe children, with wavy, black hair and dreamy grey eyes. But, he is said to be "step out of kith and kin", because he resembles none of his living relatives.