The associated coat of arms for this name are recorded in J.B Rietstaps Armorial General. Illustrated by V & H.V Rolland's. This Monumental work took 23 years to complete and 85,000 coats of Arms are included in this work. This German surname of ALTENBURG was a name which was applied to an older person, not necessarily implying old age, but rather used to distinguish an older from a younger bearer of the same given name. The name has numerous variant spellings which include OULD, AULT, OLDMAN, ALTERMAN, ALDERER, OUDT, OUDEMAN, ALT and OULDS, to name but a few. In part this name is from the Yiddish male given name ALTER (old man) given to a child born after the death of a sibling or assumed by anyone who was in mortal danger (usually someone ill). The purpose was to confuse the Angel of Death into thinking that the person was old and so not worth claiming as a victim. Because of the close relationship between the English and German languages, some Germans are able to transform their names to the English form just by dropping a single letter. Many Germans have re-spelt their names in America. A great number of immigrants from Germany settled in Pennsylvania. After the start of the first World War, Germans in great numbers Anglicized their names in an effort to remove all doubt as to their patriotism. Afterwards some changed back, and then during World War II the problem became acute once more, and the changing started all over again, although not with as much intensity. German or Teutonic heraldry extended its sphere of influence over central Europe and spread into Scandinavia. It is most notable for its design and treatment of crests, most of which reflect the arms in the charge or tinctures (colours) or both, which is unknown in British heraldry. Teutonic Europe assembled many arms on a single shield, each bearing its corresponding crest on a helmet. Over the centuries, most people in Europe have accepted their surname as a fact of life, as irrevocable as an act of God. However much the individual may have liked or disliked the surname, they were stuck with it, and people rarely changed them by personal choice. A more common form of variation was in fact involuntary, when an official change was made, in other words, a clerical error.