Alter
A surname with an uncertain origin, probably tied to a place-name or a medieval form related to “altar” or “Alder.”
The #8,597 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 80,612 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The historical evidence here is thin and somewhat confusing. One 19th-century source seems to treat Alter as a form worth cross-referencing with Altaripa, while another excerpt uses it only incidentally in a way that may reflect a place-name or scribal variation rather than the surname itself. Because of that, the safest reading is that Alter is likely an English surname of uncertain origin, possibly connected to a lost or altered local-place form, or to a spelling influenced by older words such as Latin "altar" or Old English "alder".
History
Alter appears in historical records as an uncommon surname rather than a major hereditary name. The excerpts do not provide a stable, single origin story, and the name may have been confused with similar-looking forms in early records. In modern usage it survives in small numbers, especially in the United States, but it remains relatively rare.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
A 19th-century surname dictionary cross-referenced Alter under a different headword, which suggests early compilers themselves were not fully sure how to classify it.
From the historical record
“Deal try. ALTER IPE. See Altaripa de. ALTHORPE. Places In cos. Northampt., Lincoln, and Norfolk. ALTON. A town in Hampshire, and parishes or places in cos. Wilts, Dorset, Stafford, &c. ALUM. ALLUM. See Hallam.”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom