Etter
A name with several possible roots, most likely from Germanic surname patterns rather than a single clear meaning.
The #6,701 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 61,271 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The surname Etter is not firmly settled by the excerpts, but it appears to belong to a German naming pattern in which -er / -etter forms surnames from place names, occupations, or descriptive bynames. In some cases similar forms can point to someone from a place, while in others they are simply traditional surname shapes inherited from earlier dialect forms. The available evidence does not support a single secure literal meaning for Etter itself.
History
The name is found in German-speaking surname material, and the cited scholarship treats -etter as a productive surname ending seen in several regional names. In the United States it is relatively uncommon, which is consistent with a name of immigrant origin that remained concentrated in a few family lines. Because the excerpts do not give a direct headword entry for Etter, its precise historical source remains uncertain.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The same surname ending shows up in a number of older German family names, so Etter may reflect a broader naming pattern rather than one unique word root.
From the historical record
“before] ' Mafon, a par^etter : a roughmason, or he that trimmeth walls with rough cast.' — Nomenclator, A.D. 1585.”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)