So you have established that your ancestors lived on Latvian territory. But what were their ethnic origins? Latvia has been a multi-ethnic territory for centuries, so the distinctions between ethnic groups might not always be so clear in the old
Surname Saturday – Time for Dinner!
When Latvian peasants were choosing surnames after emancipation from serfdom, they were strongly encouraged by the German and Russian rulers to choose names in their own language, and were forbidden to choose names of local nobles or famous people. While
Important Latvian/German/Russian Words
Language can be one of the biggest obstacles to tracing Latvian genealogy. However, it is not an insurmountable one. Most records follow specific patterns, and once you know what to look for in the patterns, you can easily find what
Changes in Orthography
What happens when you apply the orthography of one language to a fairly unrelated language? A right mess, that’s what. As mentioned before, up until the 1890s most church books in Latvia were written in German. German is, as its
Languages in the Records
If in the course of your research you have come across a Latvian ancestor, and you do not speak Latvian, you may feel like you have hit a big stumbling block to continuing your research. Good news! The block may