Canter is a surname. It is or has been borne in different countries by various unrelated families or families with no known connection to each other. These include English(?)-American Canters whose earliest known possible ancestor is an 18th-century Thomas Canter of Maryland;[1] Jewish-American Canters such as the Kentucky author Mark Canter and the Canter family that opened Canter's Deli in Los Angeles;[2] a learned medieval and early modern Canter family of Groningen and Friesland, prominent in various branches of learning and in politics;[3] Canters who are related to the Caunter family of Devon,[4] etc.
In Britain, the early examples of the surname Canter are all from Latin cantor and refer to precentors in cathedrals or monasteries. The surname also occurs as a derivation from Anglo-Norman caunter/cauntour, 'singer, one who leads the singing'.[5]
Notable people with the surname include:
- Andreas Canter (1463–between 1509 and 1516), Dutch humanist prodigy and poet
- Bernard Canter (1870–1956), Jewish-Dutch author, journalist, playwright, painter, and designer
- Brian Canter (1987), American professional bull rider
- Dan Canter (1961–2020), American soccer defender
- David Canter (died 1981), food writer and co-founder of English vegetarian restaurant chain Cranks
- David Canter (born 1944), British psychologist
- David E. Canter (born 1973), American sports agent
- Deborah D. Canter, American dietician, lecturer, and writer on dietetics
- Dirck Canter (c. 1545–1617), Dutch scholar and mayor of Utrecht
- Ernst Canter (1888–1956), German WWI officer and air force pilot
- Gelmer Canter (fl. 1500, d. after 1520), Dutch librarian and diplomat
- Ghebbe Canter (fl. c. 1500), Dutch humanist and nun
- Hilda Mabel Canter (1922–2007), English mycologist, protozoologist, and photographer
- Howard Vernon Canter (1873–1942), American classical scholar, wrote on Latin philology and ancient Rome
- Jacob Canter (also Jacobus; 1469–1529), Dutch pastor, poet, and humanist
- Jacob Canter (fl. 1500), Dutch mayor of Leeuwarden
- Joachim Canter (fl. 1600), Dutch politician in Groningen province
- Jean-Christophe Canter (born 1960), French politician
- Johannes Canter (1424–1497), Dutch humanist and astronomer
- Johannes Canter the Younger (d. after 1527), Dutch humanist, astrologer, and physician
- John David Canter, Irish novelist
- Jon Canter, English sitcom and comedy writer
- Jonathan Canter (born 1965), American tennis player
- Jonathan D. Canter, American attorney and novelist
- Juan Canter (born 1895), Argentine historian and writer
- Karl Canter (1889–1979), German legal practitioner and civil servant
- Karl Frederick Canter (1944–2006), American pioneer of experimental positron physics
- Kay Canter (died 2007), food writer and co-founder of English vegetarian restaurant chain Cranks
- Kieran Canter, American actor
- Lambertus Canter (1513-1553), Dutch jurist and man of letters
- Larry W. Canter (died 2020), American environmental engineer, lecturer, and writer on environmental issues
- Laurence Canter (born 1953), American lawyer and Usenet spammer
- Laurie Canter (born 1989), English golfer
- Lee Canter, American educationalist and co-developer of the assertive discipline method
- Marc Canter, American IT professional and multimedia pioneer
- Marc Canter, American Guns N' Roses photographer and author of Reckless Road: Guns N' Roses and the Making of Appetite for Destruction (2008)
- Mark Canter (born 1952), American journalist and writer
- Marlene Canter, American educationalist and co-developer of the assertive discipline method
- Mathilda B. Canter (1924–2015), American psychologist
- Miriam Canter, American writer and editor of cookbooks
- Rosalind Canter (born 1986), British equestrian
- Rosemary Canter, British publisher and literary agent
- Sheryl Canter, American psychologist, counsellor, writer, and programmer
- Theodor Canter (1545-1617), Dutch classical philologist
- Ursula Canter (fl. c. 1500), Dutch humanist
- Willem Canter (1542–1575), Dutch classical scholar