“Puķe” means “Flower” in Latvian, so “Bloom” does appear to be an appropriate anglicization. If “John Bloom” was the American name he took, his Latvian name was probably “Jānis Puķe”. The surname could also be “Puķītis”, the diminutive form of “Puķe” – diminutives are quite common, and often more common than non-diminutive forms.

His wife’s surname, Sūna (Suhna would be the old German-style spelling, which was in use until the 1920s, so fits with the time period), means “moss”.

Have you tried looking at Raduraksti (http://www.lvva-raduraksti.lv)? You can view old Latvian church books there. Have you retrieved his US naturalization documents? These might provide more details as to where precisely he lived – especially vital for a large city like Rīga. What religion was he? You will need to know this to make use of this resource. Once you know where precisely he lived in Rīga, you may also be able to make use of the 1897 All-Russia Census, also available on Raduraksti. The census records are arranged by street name.

Hope that helps!

Wes

Sindlin or those similar names are not names I’m familiar with, but I’ll keep an eye out. If it is a Jewish name it is most likely Hebrew, German or Russian in origin, since it was not that common for Jewish people to take Latvian surnames (though it did sometimes happen). The name doesn’t appear in my book of German surnames though. It does however bear a resemblance to the Latvian word “sedliene”, which means “anticline, saddleback, saddle” (according to letonika.lv).

This book might help you – I have not used it myself, but I think it could have the answers you’re looking for. It appears to be widely available in libraries. There has been a lot of work done out there on Jewish surnames, so those books would have the expertise you’re seeking (most work that I do is with Lutheran records, so I have not had the opportunity to explore other records as much). Good luck!