O is for Orthography

Ozol

Ozols

Leepin, Leepiņ, Leepiņsch

Лѣпин*, Лѣпиньш*, Лиепиньш

Liepiņ

Liepiņš

Kruhmin, Kruhmiņ, Kruhmiņsch

Крумин, Круминьш

Krūmiņ

Krūmiņš

Balod, Ballohd

Балод, Балодис

Balods, Balodis

Balodis

Egliht, Eglit

Еглит, Еглитис

Eglīts

Eglītis

Sarin, Sariņ, Sariņsch

Зарин, Зариньш

Zariņ

Zariņš

*These variations use the old Russian letter “ѣ” which is no longer in use, but is commonly found in old records. It corresponds to the Latvian “ie”.

So, some rough sound conversions, representing modern Latvian letters/diphthongs… I’ve omitted letters that don’t significantly change.

German

Russian

Early Latvian

Modern Latvian

ah

а

ah, ā

ā

z, ts

ц

c, ts, tz

c

eh

е, э

eh, ē

ē

h, ch

х

h, ch

h

ih

и

ih, ī

ī

ee

ѣ, ие

ee, ie

ie

ja, ya

я

ja

ja

sch, sh

ш

sh, š

š

uh

у

uh, ū

ū

w

в

v, w

v

s, z

з

z

z

zh

ж

zh, ž

ž

So there you have it! If you have any questions on surnames, don’t be afraid to ask! If you’re not sure from which era your family’s name is from, I can also try to help there!

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