How can I remove the descriptions from the registration page programatically? Using the custom module mentioned here https://www.drupal.org/node/754542#comment-2775706 I was able to remove the descriptions from the user login page.

function alterlogin_form_user_login_alter(&amp;$form, &amp;$form_state) {
  $form['name']['#description'] = t('');
  $form['pass'] = array('#type'  =&gt; 'password',
                        '#title' =&gt; t('Password'),
                        '#description' =&gt; t(''),
                        '#required' =&gt; TRUE,
                       );
}


however when I try 

function alterlogin_form_user_register_form_alter(&amp;$form, &amp;$form_state) {
  $form['name']['#description'] = t('');
}


the description stays the same. I know it's targetting the page because 

function alterlogin_form_user_register_form_alter(&amp;$form, &amp;$form_state) {
  $form['name']['#description'] = t('');
  $form['pass'] = array('#type'  =&gt; 'password',
                        '#title' =&gt; t('Password'),
                        '#description' =&gt; t(''),
                        '#required' =&gt; TRUE,
                       );
}


creates a password field on the registration page (that I assume does nothing).
Your structure is just a bit off. 

$form['name']['#description'] = t('');


Should be:

$form['account']['name']['#description'] = t('');


If your ever unsure of what an array looks like, always a good idea to download devel and dpm item so you can see what the structure looks like.