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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 and Older Scots porter(e) port(o)ur ‘doorkeeper gatekeeper’ (Anglo-Norman French port(i)er portur Latin portarius). 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. The name has been established in Ireland since the 13th century. In North America this surname has absorbed cognates and equivalents in other languages for example German Pförtner (see Fortner ) and 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 Middle English port(o)ur porter ‘porter carrier of burdens’ (Anglo-Norman French portur porteo(u)r). Dutch: variant mostly Americanized of Poorter status name for a freeman (burgher) of a town Middle Dutch portere modern Dutch poorter. Compare De Porter . Jewish (Ashkenazic): adoption of the English or Dutch name (see above) in place of some original Ashkenazic surname of similar sound or meaning.
Source: Dictionary of American Family Names 2nd edition, 2022