Soter Family History
Soter Surname Meaning
American shortened (and altered) form of Greek patronymics such as Soteriades, Soteriou, Soteropoulos, Sotiriou, and Sotiropoulos derived from the personal name Sōtērios, modern pronunciation Sotiri(o)s, an adjectival form meaning ‘redeeming, saving’ based on the vocabulary word sōtēr ‘savior, redeemer’ and referring to Christ (compare Italian Salvatore). Compare also Sotir.
Hungarian (Sótér): perhaps a metonymic occupational name for a cheesemaker from Middle High German schotte ‘cheese’ or an occupational name for a maker of wooden plates and troughs from Middle High German schotteler, or for a peddler from Middle High German schotte (see Schott).
German: variant of Sotter, a topographic name from Middle High German sōt ‘spring, well’.
Slovak (Šótér): from a Slavicized form of Hungarian Sótér (see 2 above).
Source: Dictionary of American Family Names 2nd edition, 2022