Alt
A rare surname that may be a short form of older names, or a locational name from a place described as “high” or “elevated.”
The #5,850 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 52,277 Americans shares it.
Etymology
This surname is not securely explained by the excerpts, and it may have several different origins. In some cases it could be a reduced or altered form of a longer surname; in others it may connect with place-names built on Latin altus, meaning “high,” as in forms like Monte Alto, “high mountain.” A Gaelic possibility also appears in older scholarship, where alt was glossed as “brook” or “stream,” but that is not certain here.
History
The available excerpts mostly mention Alt only in passing, often as part of longer surnames or place-based forms such as Mount/Monte Alto. The name appears to have been uncommon in Britain and may sometimes reflect local shortening or spelling simplification rather than a single fixed origin. Because the sources do not give a direct headword entry for Alt itself, its history remains uncertain.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Latin altus gave English many words and place-names connected with height, including forms like Montaigu/Monte Alto in medieval records.
From the historical record
“MALTHUS J House [O.E. »!(^)aft + Wjr] MALTMAN (Eng.) Malt-Maker [O.E. m{e)alt + mann\ MAN "I (Eng.) Vassal, Servant ; Hero MANN/ [O.E. »2a«B, man, vassal, hero]”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)