Find out how popular the last name Alt is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Alt.

Alt, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Alt surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Alt in America

Alt is the 5850th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Alt surname appeared 5,906 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 2 people would have the surname Alt.

We can also compare 2010 data for Alt to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Alt

The surname Alt originated in Germany and Switzerland during the medieval period. It is derived from the Old German word "alt," meaning "old" or "ancient." This name was likely given as a descriptive byname to someone who was elderly or had an aged appearance.

In Germany, the name Alt can be traced back to the 13th century. One of the earliest recorded instances is in the town of Zofingen, Switzerland, where a Hainrich Alt was mentioned in a document from 1297. The name also appeared in various German regions, such as Bavaria and Saxony, during the 14th and 15th centuries.

The Alt surname is not found in the Domesday Book, which was a survey of landowners in England commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. This suggests that the name likely did not have a presence in England during the Norman period.

One of the earliest notable individuals with the surname Alt was Johannes Alt, a German Renaissance painter who lived from around 1450 to 1510. He was known for his altarpieces and religious works, many of which can still be found in churches throughout southern Germany.

Another prominent bearer of the name was Rudolf Alt, an Austrian historian and academic who lived from 1812 to 1905. He was a professor at the University of Vienna and wrote extensively on the history of the Holy Roman Empire.

In the 20th century, the name Alt was associated with the German-American political scientist and scholar Franz Alt, who was born in 1910 and passed away in 1998. He was a prominent figure in the field of international relations and served as the director of the Institute for International Affairs at the University of Missouri.

Theodor Alt, a German archaeologist and Orientalist who lived from 1846 to 1937, made significant contributions to the study of ancient Near Eastern civilizations. He conducted excavations in Syria and Palestine and helped to decipher the Amarna letters, which were diplomatic correspondences from the 14th century BCE.

Lastly, the name Alt has been carried by several notable athletes, including Hermann Alt, a German gymnast who competed in the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, and Gert Alt, a German ice hockey player who represented West Germany in the 1976 and 1980 Winter Olympics.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Alt

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Alt.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Alt was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Alt has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Alt was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Alt, please contact us.

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