The alter Surname
alter Name Meaning and History
- German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): distinguishing epithet for the older of two bearers of the same personal name.
- Jewish (Ashkenazic): from the Yiddish personal name Alter, an inflected form of alt ‘old’. This was in part an omen name, expressing the parents’ hope that the child would live a long life; in part an apotropaic name, given to a child born after the death of a sibling, but also said to have sometimes been assumed by someone who was seriously ill. The purpose is supposed to have been to confuse the Angel of Death into thinking that the person was old and so not worth claiming as a victim.
Dictionary of American Family Names, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-508137-4
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Alter message board
Threads: 46 - Messages: 145
| Thread | Author | Replies |
| Alter(s) in Pennsylvania | Steve Alters | 18 |
| John Alter, b.1803, d.1871 Centre Co., PA |
 gardenmeisme
| 4 |
| Catherine Alter of PA |
oclarke11
| 0 |
| ALTER Howard E 1919-1996 |
| 0 |
| ALTER Dorothy E 1918-1997 |
| 0 |
| Alter Family | Norbert Alter | 9 |
| Rush County, Indiana |
trese80
| 0 |
| Family Tree | Clarence Fredrick Alter | 10 |
| Daniel Alter, b. abt. 1789 |
xxgordonwalter2
| 0 |
| The Alter Family Genealogy |
chip819
| 0 |
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