Altus History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England

The name Altus reached English shores for the first time with the ancestors of the Altus family as they migrated following the Norman Conquest of 1066. The name Altus is based on the Old English given name Aldus. Ald, the first part of the name, means old.

Early Origins of the Altus family

The surname Altus was first found in the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Lincolnshire in the south east of England, where they held a family seat from very ancient times. Soon after, Rudolphus Aldous was recorded in Yorkshire in 1168 as holding considerable estates and lands, and Robert Aldous was recorded in Norfolk in 1230.

"Aldous is an ancient east country name which at present has its principal home in and around Harleston in this county, though still found in Ipswich and Stowmarket. Aldus was the name of an Ipswich bailiff in 1654 (W.), and the name of Aldhuse was established in Stowmarket in the reign of Elizabeth (H.). In the forms of Aldus and Alduse it occurred in the reign of Edward I. in Norfolk, Notts, Lincolnshire, and Oxfordshire (H. R.). We learn from Blomefield's "Norfolk" that Aldous was the name of the rector of Wreningham in that county in 1393, and that Thomas Aldous of Starston, Norfolk, died in 1740 at the age of 100: Aldhouse is also an old Norfolk name." 1

Early History of the Altus family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Altus research. Another 36 words (3 lines of text) covering the year 1284 is included under the topic Early Altus History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Altus Spelling Variations

It is only in the last few hundred years that the English language has been standardized. For that reason, Anglo-Norman surnames like Altus are characterized by many spelling variations. Scribes and monks in the Middle Ages spelled names they sounded, so it is common to find several variations that refer to a single person. As the English language changed and incorporated elements of other European languages such as Norman French and Latin, even literate people regularly changed the spelling of their names. The variations of the name Altus include Aldis, Aldous, Aldhouse, Aldus, Aldiss, Oldis and many more.

Early Notables of the Altus family

More information is included under the topic Early Altus Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Altus migration to the United States +

Faced with the chaos present in England at that time, many English families looked towards the open frontiers of the New World with its opportunities to escape oppression and starvation. People migrated to North America, as well as Australia and Ireland in droves, paying exorbitant rates for passages in cramped, unsafe ships. Many of the settlers did not make the long passage alive, but those who did see the shores of North America were welcomed with great opportunity. Many of the families that came from England went on to make essential contributions to the emerging nations of Canada and the United States. Some of the first immigrants to cross the Atlantic and come to North America carried the name Altus, or a variant listed above:

Altus Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Albert Altus, who landed in Mississippi in 1880 2

Contemporary Notables of the name Altus (post 1700) +

Altus Theart, South African film, stage and television-actor

Citations +

Guppy, Henry Brougham, Homes of Family Names in Great Britain. 1890. Print.
Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)