My related family Walden is Jewish: this surname has been adopted in the 19th and 20th centuries as an Americanized form of various Ashkenazic (early Sephardic) Jewish surname.
Jewish (Ashkenazic,[Sephardic]): ornamental name from German Wald ‘forest’. The DNA for Walden is Middle Eastern. Jewish names were constantly being changed when they would move to a different country. They are believed to have been Sephardic Jews who escaped persecution, then went to Germany. From there their name was translated to Walden, before immigrating to America. When they were in Spain, their original name was Yaar, meaning "woods". Very few Jews would have been living anywhere near a forest at the time when they acquired surnames, so as a Jewish name its origins are unlikely to be topographic.
Wallen / Walling / Walden
Wallen/Walling/Walden One of the early long-hunters with Daniel Boone was Elisha Wallen/Walling. This DNA sample from a descendant is centered in Spain/ Iberia. The Waldens married into the Blevins family and Elizabeth Hirschman believes that they were Sephardic Jews also.
John Chavis(Chavez) Walden intermarried with Rebecca Ruth Chavez, both being Jewish.
Sephardic Jewish (Chávez): variant spelling of Chaves.