Given name & surname
Alter
“one who is old”
Alter is used as a given name and a surname. One Hebrew interpretation is “one who is old.”
Meaning & origin
What it means
One Hebrew interpretation is “one who is old.”
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is Hebrew.
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1914. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Alter through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 426
- 408 boys · 18 girls
- Most popular year
- 2012
- 21 babies
- 2025
- 15
- #5,869 for boys
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- +21%
- Rising
Where it’s given
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 15 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 5,869 among boys’ names. The recent annual counts are too incomplete to establish a ten-year comparison. Its largest published annual count for boys was 21 in 2012. In 2025, New York had the largest reported state-level birth count for boys with this name (10). Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 387 as a first name in 2020; 3,640 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Alter’s family of names
Alter has a feminine form in Alte. In Yiddish usage, Alter has a conventional equivalent in the English form Aldous. Alter has a related form in Alltar.
Inner ring: spellings · middle: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Around the world
Alter has relatives in 3 languages. Lines run from its Hebrew roots to each of them.
6 related names in 3 languages. Point at a dot, or tab to the map and use the arrow keys.
Nicknames & forms 7
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Spellings & scripts 1
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
Across languages 1
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
People named Alter
- Alter KacyznePolish photographer and writer (1885-1941)
- Alter DruyanovRussian Jewish author (1870–1938)
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love Alter, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
Eker
“offshoot”
>99% boys
Azzan
“strong one” · “their strength”
>99% boys
Alian
“tall” · “going up”
>99% boys
Abiner
“my father is a lamp” · “father of light”
>99% boys
Adbeel
“disciplined of God” · “miracle of God”
>99% boys
Elnathan
“God has given”
>99% boys
Jahleel
“wait for God” · “hope of God”
>99% boys
Abiram
“father of loftiness” · “(the) exalted one is (my) father”
>99% boys