Salter
An occupational surname for a salt maker or salt seller.
The #2,462 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 21,088 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Salter comes from Middle English salter(e), from Old English sealt or s{e}alt, meaning "salt," plus the agent suffix -ere, used for someone connected with a trade. In other words, it originally meant a person who made, handled, or sold salt. The same root appears in old forms such as sealtere.
History
Salt was a valuable preserved-food commodity in medieval life, so the salt trade was an important occupation. That helped surnames like Salter become established early and spread widely in England. The name also appears in records associated with the London Salters' Company, one of the old guilds.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Because salt was so central to food preservation, the Salters' Company became one of the early London guilds.
From the historical record
“Mercia, is supposed to be Salt. SALTER (Eng.) Salt Worker or Dealer [M.E. salter(e, O.E. s{e)altere — s{e)alt, salt -f the agent, suff. -ere'\ Sealtere, hwaet us fremaScraeft {"in ? (Salter, of what benefit is thy craft to us?). — jElfrici Colloq., late loth cent. SALTERN (Eng.) Bel. to Saltern ; or Dweller at a…”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)