Alter
A German word meaning "old" or "ancient".
Name Census estimates that about 349 living Americans carry the first name Alter. It is a predominantly male name (95.6% of registrations). The average person named Alter today is around 23 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Alter births was 2012 (21 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Alter. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
349
~ 1 in 982,104 Americans
Peak year
2012
21 babies that year
Average age
23
years old
2023 SSA rank
#5,041
Tracked since 1914
Census
Alter in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 380 people with the first name Alter, which placed it at #25,078 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#25,078
National first-name rank
People counted
380
380 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
80.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Alter
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Alter is White at 80.8%. The next largest groups are Black (11.1%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (3.4%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Alter described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Alter at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White80.8% · 307
- Black or African American11.1% · 42
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.4% · 13
- Hispanic or Latino3.2% · 12
- Two or more races1.6% · 6
Gender
Gender distribution for Alter
Alter leans heavily male at 95.6% of total registrations, but 18 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Alter as a male name
- Ranked #7,770 in 2023
- 10 male births in 2023
- Peak: 2012 (21 births)
Alter as a female name
- Ranked #5,041 in 1922
- 5 female births in 1922
- Peak: 1914 (7 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Alter leans strongly male. 358 people counted with this name were male (92.5%), compared with 29 female bearers (7.5%).
Popularity
Alter: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Alter from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 107 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Alter remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Alter by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Alter during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Alters live
Origin
Meaning and history of Alter
The name Alter derives from the Latin word 'alter' meaning 'other' or 'second'. It originated in ancient Rome during the classical period. The name was first used to distinguish between two people or things, with one being the 'alter' or 'other'.
In the Middle Ages, the name Alter was occasionally given to children born as the second son in a family. This practice was most common among the nobility and upper classes in parts of Europe, particularly in Germany and Italy. The name served as a way to differentiate between the firstborn son, who would typically inherit the family's titles and estates, and the second son.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Alter appears in the writings of the 12th-century German chronicler Otto of Freising. He mentions an individual named Alter von Henneberg, who was a nobleman from the region of Franconia in present-day Germany. Alter von Henneberg lived during the late 11th and early 12th centuries.
In the 14th century, an Italian philosopher and theologian named Alter of Ganden became a prominent figure in the intellectual circles of medieval Europe. He was born in the city of Florence and wrote extensively on topics such as metaphysics and ethics, drawing inspiration from the works of Aristotle and Thomas Aquinas.
During the Renaissance period, the name Alter was occasionally used as a first name among the wealthy and educated classes in Italy and other parts of Europe. One notable example is Alter Riccio, an Italian painter and architect who lived in the 16th century and was known for his works in the cities of Siena and Rome.
In the 17th century, a German composer and musician named Alter von Arnim gained recognition for his contributions to the development of the Baroque style of music. He was born in the city of Hamburg and served as the court composer for various noble families in northern Germany.
Another individual named Alter was Alter Seligmann, a Jewish author and philosopher who lived in the 18th century. He was born in the city of Frankfurt and wrote extensively on topics related to Judaism and Jewish culture, including works on ethics and religious law.
While the name Alter was never widespread, it has been used sporadically throughout history, primarily in parts of Europe where Latin and German cultural influences were strong. Its meaning as the 'other' or 'second' reflects its origins as a name used to distinguish between individuals, particularly in the context of family and social hierarchies.
People
Alter + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Alter as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with A
Other first names starting with A with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Alter: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Alter?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 349 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Alter going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 982,104 US residents.
Is Alter a common name?
We classify Alter as "Very Rare". It ranks above 80.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 411 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Alter most popular?
The single biggest year for Alter was 2012, when 21 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Alter is about 23 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Alter in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 380 people with the name Alter, or 0.13 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #25,078 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Alter in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Alter?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Alter leans strongly male. 358 people counted with this name were male (92.5%), compared with 29 female bearers (7.5%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Alter?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Alter is White at 80.8%. The next largest groups are Black (11.1%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (3.4%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Alter most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Alter in the 2020 Census, accounting for 80.8% (307 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Alter in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Alter a male name?
Yes, 95.6% of people registered as Alter in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Alter still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Alter in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Alter can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people are named Alter?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.