Alter

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 rabbi
David Alter (1807–1881), American inventor
Dinsmore Alter (1888–1968), American astronomer and meteorologist
Harvey Alter, American virologist
Hobart Alter (1933–2014), American businessman
Israel Alter (also: Yisraʾel Alter, 1901–1979), Jewish composer and last chief cantor in Hanover, Germany
Jonathan Alter, American journalist
Karl Joseph Alter, American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church
Louis Alter, American composer
Michael Alter, American businessman
Moshe Jacob Alter, Yiddish poet
Pinchas Menachem Alter, Hassidic rabbi
Robert Alter, Biblical scholar
Stephen Alter, American author
Simchah Bunim Alter, Hassidic rabbi
Tom Alter, Indian actor
Yaakov Aryeh Alter, Hassidic rabbi
Yehudah Aryeh Leib Alter, Hassidic rabbi
Yisrael Alter, Hassidic rabbi
Yitzchak Meir Alter (c. 1798 – 1866), Hassidic rabbi
Given name:
Alter Kacyzne (1885–1941), Yiddish writer
Alter Tepliker (died 1919), Breslover Hasid and author

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Late 14c., "to change (something), make different in some way," from Old French alterer "to change, alter," from Medieval Latin alterare "to change," from Latin alter "the other (of the two)," from PIE root *al- (1) "beyond" + comparative suffix -ter (as in other). Intransitive sense "to become otherwise" first recorded 1580s. Related: Altered; altering.

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Means: old in Hebrew.

Popularity	Name	Birth Year	Description
1	Tom Alter	1950	Indian actor
2	Jonathan Alter	1957	American journalist
3	Robert Alter	1935	American professor
4	Paul Alter	1922	American television director
5	Hobart Alter	1933	American businessman
6	Ariane Alter	1986	German television presenter
7	Yehudah Aryeh Leib Alter	1847	Hasidic rabbi
8	Yaakov Aryeh Alter	1939	Rebbe of the Hasidic dynasty
9	Stephen Alter	1956	Author
10	Avraham Mordechai Alter	1866	Third Gerrer Rebbe
11	David Alter	1807	Inventor and scientist
12	Louis Alter	1902	Pianist, songwriter and composer
13	Yitzchak Meir Alter	1799	Rebbe of the Hasidic dynasty
14	Pinchas Menachem Alter	1926	Rebbe of the Hasidic dynasty
15	Michael Alter		American businessman
16	Daniel Alter	1959
17	Norbert Alter		French sociologist
18	Simcha Bunim Alter	1898	Rebbe of the Hasidic dynasty
19	Yisrael Alter	1895	Rebbe of the Hasidic dynasty
20	Harvey J. Alter	1935	American medical researcher
21	Gary J. Alter		American surgeon
22	Alter Mojze Goldman	1909	French resistance member
23	Karl Joseph Alter	1885	Catholic bishop
24	Joanne H. Alter	1927	Illinois politician
25	Victor Alter	1890	Jewish socialist activist and publicist
26	Alter Kacyzne	1885	Polish photographer and writer
27	Morry Alter		American reporter and correspondent; television journalist
28	Dinsmore Alter	1888	American astronomer
29	Israel Alter	1901	Austrian-Hungarian Jewish cantor and composer, regarded as "the one Chasanim, the cantor of the cantors"
30	Alter Esselin	1889	Russian-Jewish American poet
31	Karen Alter	1965	Professor of Political Science and Law
32	Anna Alter	1949	French journalist
33	Myriam Alter	1945	Belgian woman composer
34	Linda Lee Alter	1939	Artist and art collector
35	George E. Alter	1868
36	Bill Alter	1944	American politician
37	Lori Alter	1945	American actor
38	Franciszek Alter	1889	Polish general
39	Adolf Alter	1876	German politician
40	Francis Karl Alter	1749	Austrian linguist
41	Chester M. Alter
42	Elisabeth Alter	1953	German politician
43	Martha Alter	1904	Composer
44	Kevin Alter
45	Alter Tepliker		Ukrainian rabbi
46	Arie Alter	1961
47	Maurice Alter
48	Stephen G. Alter		Historian
49	André Alter	1973	German association football player
50	Leon Alter	1880
51	Robert E. Alter	1925	American crime writer (1925-1965)
52	Peter Alter
53	Alter Drujanow	1870
54	Jeremy Alter		American actor, film director and film producer
55	Hobart R. Alter		American politician
56	Rudolf Alter	1839	Czech member of Czech council and attorney
57	Wilbur M. Alter
58	Sandra Alter	1972	German association football player