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Online names & meanings

Porter

Surname or Lastname

English and Scottish

English and Scottish : occupational name for the gatekeeper of a walled town or city, or the doorkeeper of a great house, castle, or monastery, from Middle English porter â€˜doorkeeperâ€™, â€˜gatekeeperâ€™ (Old French portier). The office often came with accommodation, lands, and other privileges for the bearer, and in some cases was hereditary, especially in the case of a royal castle. As an American surname, this has absorbed cognates and equivalents in other European languages, for example German PfÃ¶rtner (see Fortner) and North German Poertner.English : occupational name for a man who carried loads for a living, especially one who used his own muscle power rather than a beast of burden or a wheeled vehicle. This sense is from Old French porteo(u)r (Late Latin portator, from portare â€˜to carry or conveyâ€™).Dutch : occupational name from Middle Dutch portere â€˜doorkeeperâ€™. Compare 1.Dutch : status name for a freeman (burgher) of a seaport, Middle Dutch portere, modern Dutch poorter.Jewish (Ashkenazic) : adoption of the English or Dutch name in place of some Ashkenazic name of similar sound or meaning.