Frequency: (223)
(number of times this surname appears in a sample database of 88.7 million names, representing one third of the 1997 US population)
Swedish: from al ‘alder’ + -in, a common ending of Swedish surnames derived from Latin -inus, -inius ‘descendant of’. The surname could be ornamental, but more probably has a topographic sense, having been adopted on account of a prominent alder tree at the home farm.
See the Key to the Dictionary or consult the General Introduction for further explanation.
