Halter Family History
Halter Name Meaning
German: topographic name for someone who lived by a meadow or pastureland, from Middle High German halte ‘pasture’ + the suffix -er denoting an inhabitant. South German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): from Middle High German haltære ‘keeper’, ‘shepherd’, German Halter. English: occupational name for a maker of halters for horses and cattle, Middle English haltrere (from Old English hælftre ‘halter’). Dutch: metonymic occupational name for a halter-maker, from Middle Dutch halfter, haelter, halter ‘halter’.
Source: Dictionary of American Family Names ©2013, Oxford University Press