Alter is both a surname and a given name. 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.
Notable people with the name include:
Surname:
Avraham Mordechai Alter (1866–1948), Hasidic rabbiDavid Alter (1807–1881), American inventorDinsmore Alter (1888–1968), American astronomer and meteorologistHarvey Alter, American virologistHobart Alter (1933–2014), American businessmanIsrael Alter (also: Yisraʾel Alter, 1901–1979), Jewish composer and last chief cantor in Hanover, GermanyJonathan Alter, American journalistKarl Joseph Alter, American prelate of the Roman Catholic ChurchLouis Alter, American composerMichael Alter, American businessmanMoshe Jacob Alter, Yiddish poetPinchas Menachem Alter, Hassidic rabbiRobert Alter, Biblical scholarStephen Alter, American authorSimchah Bunim Alter, Hassidic rabbiTom Alter, Indian actorYaakov Aryeh Alter, Hassidic rabbiYehudah Aryeh Leib Alter, Hassidic rabbiYisrael Alter, Hassidic rabbiYitzchak Meir Alter (c. 1798 – 1866), Hassidic rabbiGiven name:
Alter Kacyzne (1885–1941), Yiddish writerAlter Tepliker (died 1919), Breslover Hasid and author