Alper

Alper is a male Turkish given name. It is composed of the two words alp and er. In Turkish, "Alp" means "stouthearted", "brave", "chivalrous", "warrior". The second, er means "soldier, male". Additionally Alper is used as an adjective for an ancient legendary Turkish commander; Alp Er Tunga who lived around 300 B.C. From the same Asian cultural roots, Alper is closely related to the name 勇士 (Japanese yuushi, Chinese yǒngshì) derived 勇 =Alp and 士 =Er words.

"Alper" is also a variant of "Halpern/Alperin" (Halperin, Heilperin, in another Eastern European pronunciation also Galperin, Alper, Alperovich, Alpert). In this use, it is a Jewish (Ashkenazic) surname based on the name of the city of Heilbronn (see Heilprin) that was created no later than the end of the 16th century. The surname belonged to four Jewish rabbinic families from the Russian Empire, Poland, and German principalities between the 16th and 18th centuries. It is one of many variant names all derived from the city.