Family name origins & meanings
- Americanized form of German Altdörfer, a habitational name for someone from one of the many places in Switzerland, Austria, and southern Germany called Altdorf ‘old village’.
- Frederick Alderfer (Friedrich Altdörfer) came to PA in 1733 from Steinsfurt in Kraichgau, Germany; his ancestors were from Fehr-Altdorf, Zürich canton, Switzerland.