Once again we have some Latvian surnames for a more obscure Latvian letter of the alphabet for the Family History Through the Alphabet challenge. “Ū” is a long U sound.
ŪDENS means “water”. In old orthography, it would have been written as Uhden or Uhdens. In Cyrillic, it would be Уденс. I have seen this name in Jaunsalaca and Lugaži.
ŪDRS is somewhat more common – it means “otter”. In old orthography, it could be Uhdr, Uhder, Uhdris. In Cyrillic, it would be Удрис. I have seen this name in Lāde, Limbaži, Meirāni, Nabe, Pāle, Sēļi and Vecpiebalga.
Do you know any other “Ū” surnames? Where have you seen them? Share your findings!
I’m intrigued by just how different these names are in the variant styles. Far more than English-style names.