This interesting surname is of medieval German origin, and is a variant form of "Lebert", which is cognate with the English surname "leppard", from the Old German, Old French "lepard", itself from the Late Latin "leopardus", a compound of "leo", lion and "pardus", panther. This was perhaps a nickname for a stealthy man or was also given to someone who lived in a house distinguished by the sign of a leopard. The surname, while rare in England, is recorded there in the mid 16th Century, when one Charles Lober married Margaret Fernne on June 12th 1558 at Ardingley in Sussex. Other early examples of the surname include the marriage of Paul Loeber and Katharina Weiner in 1560 at Weimar, Sachsen-Weimar, Eisenach; the christening of Margaret, daughter of Hans and Anna Lober on May 17th 1567 at Schwaben, Lindau Bodensee, Bayern; and the christening of Jacque, son of Olivier and Anne Lober, in 1654 at Cone-sur-l'Escant, Nord in France. A Coat of Arms was granted to a Lober family in Germany which depicts a shield divided per pale, black and silver, the first a gold lion crowned of the same, the second three diagonal red bars. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Adam Loeber, which was dated 1530, marriage to Maria Seidel at Zwickan, Planew, Sachsen, Germany, during the reign of Emperor Charles V, "Holy Roman Emperor", 1519 - 1558. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.