Family History Through the Alphabet – A is for Archives

I’ve decided to participate in the “Family History through the Alphabet” challenge. I’m a bit late to the party, but I’ll make up for it, don’t worry!

Just how will I do that? Well, I’m going to be using the Latvian alphabet. Which, while still being a Latin alphabet, has several significant differences from the English alphabet. Namely, it does not have a Q, W, X or Y. However, in their place, there are some letters unique to Latvian, and others that are shared with other languages, mostly of Eastern European origins. There are 33 letters in the Latvian alphabet.

My “Family History through the Alphabet” entries are going to revolve around important aspects of Latvian genealogy, Latvian surnames, Latvian history, and so on, rather than my own personal family history.

So, let’s get started, shall we?

A is for Archives

We can all agree that the Internet is a fantastic tool for genealogy – so many digitized records, be they indexed or not, accessible anywhere in the world. Anyone can explore their family history from the comfort of their own home, without needing to travel to distant places, pay exorbitant fees for copies, etc., right?

Well no, not quite. The Internet is a great tool for creating the “skeleton” of a family tree, this is true. Even small countries like Latvia have digitized a number of records to help do this. But that is all it is – a skeleton. Where is the meat on those bones? This “meat” is a key part of family history research, and for that reason I have chosen A is for Archives.

To get any meat on the bones of your Latvian genealogical research, research needs to be done on-site. And for the most part, this on-site research will take place in an archives – one in particular, the Latvian State Historical Archives (LSHA). Even Who Do You Think You Are?, with its constant promotion of Ancestry.com, was unable to avoid having to go to the LSHA during the Rashida Jones episode (for my review of this episode, go here). Ancestry.com does not have any substantial Latvian records (the only ones they do have are transcriptions of a limited set of records transcribed by JewishGen). Raduraksti only has religious records (baptisms, marriages, deaths), revision lists and what exists of the 1897 All-Russia Census for Latvia. But there is so much more to explore on-site at the LSHA.

Examples of what I have found at the LSHA: my great-great-grandfather Robert Francis’ last will and testament, passports with photos of some of my great-great-grandparents, the original land purchase deeds from the mid-1800s for several of my ancestral farms (including maps), visa and other travel document requests, name change documents, military records…. and that is still only the tip of the iceberg!

So, in short: If you want meat on the bones of your family history, a visit to the archives is mandatory. There are so many possibilities, so it is not a resource you want to leave untapped. If you are not able to visit yourself, please contact me – I may be able to help put some meat on those bones for you!

Tombstone Tuesday – Strazdiņš Family

In this series, I am sharing photographs that I took of graves while I was in Latvia. All have death dates prior to 1945, and I have no further information on the people mentioned.

Names: Mārtiņš Strazdiņš, born September 9, 1841, died May 4, 1896; Matilda Daugan born Strazdiņš, born October 24, 1870, died October 24, 1938.

Location: Dubulti cemetery, JÅ«rmala.

My transcription is in modern orthography, while the writing on the tombstone is in old orthography. It is clear that the inscriptions for the two people were done at different times – the second does not appear to be as skilled at the writing style as the first one. It is possible that this style of writing on tombstones had gone out of style in the intervening time period.

Surname Saturday – Surnames of Jumurda Estate, 1826

I’m starting a new Surname Saturday feature – each week, I will profile the surnames of a different manorial estate from the 1826 revision list. Why 1826? That is the year that surnames first appeared in the revision lists – for the Livland guberniya, at any rate, in some cases in the Kurland guberniya they did not appear until the 1834 revision list.

This means that these 1826 revision lists are the closest thing we have to establishing places of origin for surnames, since in most cases documents regarding the actual granting of surnames no longer exist. Some do, but they are few and far between. Now, it is important to remember that many surnames have multiple places of origin – common names that often came from farm names, such as Kalniņš, Ozoliņš, BÄ“rziņš, etc. belong to many completely unrelated families. But for some of the more uncommon surnames, it could provide important leads.

So, without further ado – on to this week’s estate: Jumurda!

Jumurda estate is in central Latvia, northwest of the town of Madona. This was a part of the Livland guberniya during the time of the Russian Empire. Why have I chosen Jumurda as the first estate? Simple – it is an estate that a significant number of people emigrated from in the mid-1800s, due to unreasonable rents and corvée demands placed upon the peasants. According to a book on Latvian colonies in Russia, all of the Jumurda peasants wished to move from the estate. Not all were able to, but a good number did, including peasants with the surnames Ozoliņš and Grāpis. These two, along with quite a few others, traveled to southern Russia and the area around Yeysk on the Sea of Azov (the body of water separated from the Black Sea by the Crimean Peninsula). Other Jumurda peasants headed to different parts of the Russian Empire, including the Vitebsk guberniya, Kuban oblast, Smolensk guberniya and Stavropol guberniya.

The 1826 revision list had 63 unique surnames, 51 of which are ethnic Latvian surnames. This number – 80% – is much higher than I’ve noticed in other estates. Four of the names are Germanic in origin (German, Swedish, etc.). One name is a blend of Latvian and Germanic. The last seven I am uncertain of. Some sound like they could be Latvian names, due to their endings, but I can’t connect a meaning to them. All names are written according to modern Latvian orthography, except where noted.

So, without further ado:

Latvian

Āboltiņš Auziņš Avotiņš Bāliņš
Balodis Bērziņš Blīgzniņš Celiņš
Dalders Draudziņš Dukats Elksnis
Ezeriņš Gailītis Glāzītis Grāpis
Gulbis Kalniņš Kauliņš Kļaviņš
Krastiņš Maziņš Melbārdis Ozoliņš
Paeglītis Pakulis Pļaviņš Priedītis
Purviņš Putniņš Radziņš Riekstiņš
Rozītis Rudzītis Salpetris Saulītis
Sērmaukšs Sigalds Sirmbārdis Stepītis
Sudrabiņš Upītis Vītols Žagats
Zālītis Zariņš Zeltiņš Zemnieks
Zvaigznīte

Latvian, but due to the spelling in the old records (shown here), they could be one of several different names:

Leping Mesit

Blend of Latvian and Germanic

Blūmītis

Germanic

Bleiwe Grunbergs Johansons Rinke

Unknowns (written as in the records)

Lissums Pedder Pimber Prussels
Skarrs Wizau Zaubuling

The Latvian names here are the usual suspects – all of the really common ones, as well as a number of other often-seen names. The more unusual ones are BlÄ«gzniņš (diminutive of “goat-willow”), Salpetris (saltpeter) and Sudrabiņš (diminutive of “silver”). Of the unknowns, I have the suspicion that “Lissums”, “Skarrs” and “Zaubuling” are all of Latvian origin as well, but their connections to Latvian words are tenuous.

Is your family from Jumurda estate? When did they leave? Where did they go? Share your stories in comments!

Tombstone Tuesday – Putniņš Family

In the coming weeks, Tombstone Tuesday will be featuring Latvian tombstones that I photographed while in Latvia. I only photographed tombstones with death dates prior to 1945, to maintain privacy. I have no further information on these people besides what is found on the tombstone.

Inscription: “DzÄ«vÄ“ mīļš, nāvÄ“ neaizmirsdams.” (Loved in life, unforgettable in death)

Graves: Jēkabs Putniņš, born September 24, 1842, died February 2, 1908; Voldemārs Putniņš, born December 13, 1875, died June 7, 1898; Anna Putniņš born Brandenburg, born February 9, 1855, died November 10, 1909.

Location: Dubulti cemetery, JÅ«rmala.

My transcription is in modern orthography, but the tombstone is written in the old orthography that would have been used in the early 20th century, but due to the good condition of the monument, I think it might be a more recent addition/replacement that simply preserved the old style.

Wordless Wednesday – Statue of Michael Andreas Barclay de Tolly

(click image to enlarge)

Statue of Field Marshall Michael Andreas Barclay de Tolly was a descendant of Scottish clan Barclay whose family had settled in the Russian Empire. His grandfather Peter was the mayor of RÄ«ga for a time. As Field Marshall, Michael Andreas was the commander of the Russian army against Napoleon in the early 1800s. He died in May of 1818. This statue is found in the Esplanade park in RÄ«ga, built initially in 1913, evacuated and destroyed in 1915 during the First World War, then renewed in 2002. (Photo taken by me, April 2012.)

Latvia: Now on Google StreetView!

Google StreetView is now live for Latvia!

Now, after doing some poking around, there are some caveats to this. I would not agree that there is “almost 100% coverage”, as some news articles say. While their coverage of RÄ«ga and other major cities appears to be amazing, once you leave the major population centres, it is not nearly that comprehensive. Though that isn’t necessarily StreetView’s fault – there are plenty of streets in small towns and country roads that don’t even appear on Google’s regular maps of Latvia. I’m not sure why this is, but a simple comparison between Google Maps and BalticMaps will show you that Google Maps is missing a lot. For example, the town of Smiltene – Google Maps has an “urban area” outline to the region, but only shows about four or five streets. Meanwhile, clicking over to BalticMaps shows at least two dozen. I have been to Smiltene, and I can tell you that there are more than four or five streets.

Despite this, however, Google StreetView can be a useful tool, particularly for those who have ancestors from RÄ«ga and other major cities, who would like to see their ancestral homes (or what currently exists where the ancestral home used to be). So have fun exploring!

While I have the opportunity, I will also mention some other Latvian mapping tools. The aforementioned BalticMaps is an excellent resource for modern-day maps of Latvia. This map provides a comprehensive overview of all of the towns and manorial estates across the Baltic provinces of the Russian Empire. It does not list individual farmsteads, but if you’re looking for the name of an obscure or small estate that you can’t find in other lists, odds are you will find it here. Lastly, I recommend the 1920s-1930s series of 1:75000 maps published by Jāņa SÄ“ta – you can order them on CD here. The detail is such that individual farmsteads are mentioned.

Do you have any Latvian mapping tips or suggestions? Add in comments!

“Who Do You Think You Are?” – Rashida Jones Episode Review

I never thought that this was something I’d end up doing on this blog – reviewing a Who Do You Think You Are? episode. But it has happened – last weekend’s episode took place partially in Latvia!

The celebrity in question was Rashida Jones, an American actress, daughter of music mogul Quincy Jones and actress Peggy Lipton. The episode was looking at Rashida’s maternal ancestry. They followed her maternal grandmother’s ancestry back to her Jewish roots in Ireland, but the family had arrived in Ireland in the mid-1800s from Latvia.

When in Latvia, the show traced Rashida’s ancestry to the town of Aizpute in western Latvia, and to a time before surnames, revealing that Benson – a name that the grandmother had taken on to disguise her Jewish ancestry, but what also turned out to be her mother’s maiden name – was the first and only surname that the family had in fact known. After these revelations, Rashida turned to finding out what happened to her family that had stayed in Latvia while her great-great-grandfather had left, and learned that all of them perished in the Holocaust. The episode closed with Rashida and her mother Peggy visiting the memorial at the site where their relatives were likely to have been killed at Rumbula in 1941.

For those of you who have watched genealogy programs before, and have also conducted your own research, you’ll of course know that these shows are greatly simplified – nothing is ever that easy! I wonder how many hours of work it took to find out that the Bensons were from Aizpute. The easiest way would have been if the Irish records had a death record for one of Rashida’s ancestors that mentioned the specific birthplace in Latvia, or if there were Irish immigration records that mentioned where in Latvia they were from. If none of the Irish records mentioned anything, it would have been a long process looking through all of the Latvian Jewish records to find the place of origin.

There were some technical mistakes on the show – they mention the “National Archives” and then the “State Archives”, seemingly referring to them as the same thing. They are and they aren’t. The National Archives, from my understanding, is the umbrella group encompassing all of the archives in Latvia, while the State Archives is just one of those archives. Which is where the mistake comes in – Rashida was not at the State Archives, she was at the State Historical Archives, which is around the corner from the State Archives – location shots show her entering the front door of the State Historical Archives, and in the reading room of the State Historical Archives. Most information of genealogical interest will be at the State Historical Archives, and that is where I do my research (and, in fact, I have sat in the very place that Rashida sat!). I worry that this sort of mistake might lead those in search of their Latvian roots to the wrong archival authority, but I’m sure that the State Archives is used to such inquiries and knows to direct them to the State Historical Archives instead.

I’m also wondering, and maybe some of you American readers can enlighten me, but I’m wondering why Americans often pronounce Latvia as “Lot-vee-ah”, instead of “Lat-vee-ah”. I hear “Lot-vee-ah” frequently from Americans, not just in this show. Is there a reason for this unusual pronunciation? Rashida and the narrator used “Lot-vee-ah”, even though the locals in the episode said “Lat-vee-ah”, which is closer to the Latvian pronunciation.

I’m glad that the show took the viewers outside of RÄ«ga, because all too often people focus on RÄ«ga because it is the capital city, and rarely move out of there when visiting the country. But there is so much more to see in the country than just the capital. In terms of genealogy, this is particularly important to show – while certainly some people will have ancestral ties to RÄ«ga, when compared to the number of people who have ancestral ties to elsewhere in Latvia, this number is quite small. Do not assume that just because your ancestors are from Latvia, that they have to be from RÄ«ga!

I’m also glad that in terms of the Second World War, the show only discussed the events of the Holocaust and as they related to this specific family, rather than trying to paint a bigger picture of the Second World War. The Second World War in Latvia is an extremely complex matter that could not be accurately discussed in such a short time slot, so it is a good thing that they decided to leave it aside and only looked at Rashida’s family. I will try to write some posts about the Second World War in Latvia in the future, but it is a difficult time period to fairly describe such that it makes sense for the Western reader, because unlike the “good guys” and “bad guys” fighting in Western Europe at the time, Eastern Europe had “bad guys” and “worse guys”, which label belonging to which power (the Nazis or the Soviets) depending on the particulars of each family’s ethnic, religious, political and class backgrounds. But I will try.

Did you watch the Rashida Jones episode of Who Do You Think You Are? What did you think? Curious about the documents they looked at? Leave your questions in comments below!

Latvian Genealogy Primer – Part 2

Part 2 – Genealogical Sources

After reading Part 1 of this primer, and the historical context of Latvian emigration, now it is time to move to genealogical sources – the resources that you can use to trace your Latvian ancestry.

What You Need to Know About Latvian Genealogy

  1. Most records are in Russian or German prior to the First World War. After that, they will be in Latvian, unless they were created by a minority-run institution (such as a German church congregation). Keep a dictionary or online translator of all languages by your side when searching.
  2. Records available online are only the tiniest tip of the iceberg. The holdings of the Latvian State Historical Archives are vast, and many parts of them remain unexplored. There is a lot to discover there.
  3. Of the online records, very few are searchable by typing a name in a box. Be prepared to look through page after page of digital images.
  4. The spelling of names is mutable. Very mutable, in fact, prior to the interwar era, and one name could be spelled in a myriad of different ways depending on who was writing the record, their language knowledge, etc. While many names were diminutives, sometimes in official records they would not be in the diminutive form. However, do be cautious – there are some names that could look similar to someone not familiar with Latvian names that are in fact very different, so if you think you’ve found a potential ancestor, but the name is a bit off, you can ask me and I can tell you whether or not it could be a possibility.
  5. On the topic of names, it is also not unusual for people to go by their middle names – this applies to both men and women.
  6. Furthermore, location is key, particularly when dealing with common surnames (for an idea about common surnames, look at my surnames database – if it is mentioned in more than half a dozen places, especially if these places are separated by quite a distance, it is common). Do not assume that the first Jānis BÄ“rziņš you come across is your ancestor – this is the most common Latvian name, and there will be thousands of them in the records. Even if you know the location, be careful, because names often repeat within families – I have a case where one of my great-great-grandfathers was living on the same farm as his cousin, who had the same name as him, and they had daughters born in the same month, also given the same name. The only way to tell them apart had been the mothers’ maiden names – because the mothers also had the same given names!

First Step: Where in Latvia were your ancestors from?

This can sometimes be a difficult question to answer, particularly for those of you whose ancestors emigrated in the early years. Passenger lists at arrival ports might not provide a lot of information. But in this case, it is important to look beyond just the information listed as their last place of residence – many passenger lists provide information on next of kin in the home country, or the family member/friend they are joining in their new country. Use the information for these people as well – maybe your great-grandmother’s place of residence wasn’t listed on her passenger manifest, but the list does mention that she is joining her aunt – look up her aunt’s passenger manifest to see if that lists her last place of residence. It might not be precisely the answer you’re looking for, but it is a closer starting point and may provide more hints than just “Latvia”.

For those whose ancestors are post-Second World War emigrants, the process is easier: Write to the International Tracing Service and they should be able to provide you with some documents regarding your family’s time in Displaced Persons Camps. Many of these documents will also list places of birth and places of residence.

If none of these suggestions have been of use, don’t despair yet – by ascertaining which group of migrants your ancestor was most associated with, it might help narrow down your search in Latvian records. Many economic migrants (that is, those looking for new opportunities or land) were from Kurzeme, the western province of Latvia. Political migrants could be mentioned in a variety of records and books about the 1905 Revolution, and these could provide clues to places of residence. It is even worth exploring the roots of Latvian neighbours of your ancestor, if you have found them on a census record – people often stayed with others they knew from back home. Explore all of these avenues.

Second Step: What Latvian resources are there online?

The main resource to look at for tracing ancestors in Latvian territory, regardless of their religious or ethnic affiliation, is Raduraksti. This is a project created by the Latvian State Historical Archives to digitize Latvian records so that they can be viewed from anywhere in the world.

Keep in mind this is simply a digitization, not a transcription – you will need to look page by page at the records to find what you’re looking for. I have created a number of guides and tips for looking at these records – just click on the blog tags to the left, particularly “records” and “tips”.

The key piece of advice here is don’t give up – it might look daunting, but the more you look at the records, the more you learn the terms and the styles of handwriting, the better you’ll fare. Keep a German or Russian dictionary handy.

Raduraksti provides several types of basic records – birth, marriage and death records in the form of religious records, so you will need to know the religion of your ancestor; 1897 census records (though these are far from complete); and revision lists, covering the period 1796-1858, with some later supplements, that are also not complete, but serve as rudimentary census records.

Some projects do exist in terms of transcribing these records into searchable databases. I started doing so on this website, but I have now folded my work in with Ciltskoki.lv. This website has thousands of transcriptions, however it was created for an intended audience of Latvian speakers, so English translations within the website are very rudimentary, if they exist at all. I am working with the website owner to create an English interface.

Those looking for their Jewish roots in Latvia would do well to visit the website of Christine Usdin here, where she has transcribed many of Latvia’s Jewish congregations’ records. JewishGen also has many transcriptions here.

Third Step: What Latvian resources are there in Latvia?

All sorts! While the online records will provide you with a skeleton of a family tree, the records available on-site in Latvia will put meat on the bones.

What kind of records are available depend heavily on the particular region you’re researching. Generally speaking, cities will have more records than the countryside, but you will also have to sift through more records to find your ancestors, because cities are, obviously, larger population centres, and alphabetical indexes can be scarce. Vidzeme province – the northern province of Latvia – also has, generally speaking, better preserved records than the other parts of Latvia. I’m not entirely sure as to why this is, but if I had to take a guess, I would say it is because the First World War caused a lot of damage in Kurzeme, the western province, and this could have resulted in a loss of certain types of records.

Examples of what kind of records can be found in the Latvian State Historical Archives:

  • Interwar-era passports;
  • House books;
  • School records – both interwar and pre-WW1;
  • Parish population registers for the late 19th century;
  • Land records for individual farmsteads;
  • Court documents, both civil and criminal;
  • Police and prison records;
  • Lists of people deemed to be under police surveillance, typically for membership in illegal political organizations;
  • Documents regarding WW1-era refugees from Latvian territory to Inner Russia;
  • Consular documents from interwar-era Latvian embassies around the world;

… and much much more!

Do explore my website more by clicking on the tags at the side, to see the variety of sources I’ve discussed and records I’ve profiled. For more steps and details for getting started, please see my post Getting Started with Latvian Research. If you can’t make the trip to Latvia yourself and want me to explore the on-site resources for you, check out my services page.

As always, if you have any questions, contact me! Leave a comment here, and I will respond to you by email, or email directly to (this is an image to prevent spam, you will need to type it into your email program).

Best of luck with your searches!

Latvian Genealogy Primer – Part 1

Ready to move on to genealogical sources? See Part 2 of this primer here.

Part 1 – Historical Context

What You Need to Know about Latvia

Latvia is a country in northeastern Europe, bordered by Estonia, Russia, Belarus and Lithuania. The official language is Latvian, an Indo-European language of the Baltic branch, related to Lithuanian. Latvia has a population of just over 2 million people.

Latvia only gained independence as a nation-state relatively recently – first declared in 1918, then occupied by the Soviet Union in 1940, Nazi Germany in 1941, and by the Soviet Union again in 1944 until independence was re-declared in 1991. Latvia joined the European Union in 2004.

Latvia has always been a multiethnic country. The majority population is ethnic Latvian, historically predominantly Lutheran, but with Orthodox, Roman Catholic and Baptist minorities. The second-largest ethnic group in modern Latvia are Russians, who are predominantly Orthodox. Historically, Latvia also had significant Jewish and German (Lutheran) populations, though both of these were reduced significantly as a result of the Second World War – the Jews by the Holocaust, and the Germans returned to the Third Reich by the invitation of Adolf Hitler to help with creating a “greater Germany”.

Thousands of Latvian residents of all ethnicities were also deported to Siberia by the Soviet forces, and thousands also fled West in the last days of the Second World War to escape Soviet occupation. After several years in Displaced Persons camps, they emigrated to countries all over the West, most commonly Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia.

What You Need to Know about Latvian Emigration

Latvians emigrating to places outside of Latvia, particularly en masse, is a relatively recent phenomenon, compared to many other countries. The system of serfdom in place while Latvia was a part of the Russian Empire (and prior to that under a myriad of other rulers) restricted the movements of the peasantry significantly, with permission required to move even to the neighbouring manorial estate. Even after serfdom was abolished (in Kurzeme province in 1818, in Vidzeme province in 1819, and in Latgale province only in 1861 at the same time as the rest of the Russian Empire), the movement of people was meticulously controlled and recorded.

Keep in mind that these are just general movements – your ancestor may have been an independent spirit who did not fit the characteristics of any of these emigrant groups.

The first mass movement of Latvians to outside of the Latvian provinces began in the late 19th century, when there were a large number of landless peasants. The Latvian provinces had a relatively high population density, which, coupled with the fact that land prices were high for peasants wishing to buy out their land from the German manorial estate barons, meant that the landless peasants began to look elsewhere for the possibilities of owning their own land. They ended up being offered cheap land all over the Russian Empire, and thousands of families took these offers. The majority of these families settled in the guberniyas of Saint Petersburg, Mogilev, Ufa and Vitebsk (the part that was not modern-day Latgale). Many of these Latvian colonies were assimilated, others dissolved by Latvians returning to Latvia, while some do continue to maintain their Latvian heritage today.

The first movements to the West began a few decades later, at the very end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century. These emigrants were of two varieties – the first, like their Eastern emigrant brethren, came in search of new opportunities and land, many settling in Boston, Philadelphia and northern Wisconsin, USA. The second were political migrants, who were typically active in social democratic or autonomist political circles. Particularly in the years following the 1905 Russian Revolution, many Latvian political activists found themselves abroad, since the revolution had been particularly strong in the Latvian provinces.

A unique instance of Latvian emigration took place in the early 1920s – the early days of the Latvian Republic. Thousands of Latvian Baptists followed their pastor Jānis Iņķis to the forests of southern Brazil, where they established the colony Vārpa. Some Latvians still live in Vārpa today, though most have dispersed to other parts of Brazil.

The largest mass emigration of Latvians occured as a result of the Second World War. As mentioned above, thousands fled to escape the Soviet occupation, and later travelled to new homes across the world.

The following links may be of use for you to read about the historical situation in Latvia:

“A Millenarian Migration: Vārpa” by Arnolds Kārklis. Story of the history of the Vārpa colony.

ROOTS=SAKNES by Bruno Martuzāns. A wonderful resource on Latvian history and genealogical documents in context.

Also the following books (mostly in Latvian):

Apine, Ilga. 1905-1907 gada revolūcija Latvijā un latviešu sociāldemokrāti. Rīga, 2005.

Kārklis, Maruta, Līga Streips and Laimonis Streips. The Latvians in America: 1640-1973. New York, 1974.

Krasnais, Vilberts. Latviešu kolonijas. Melbourne, 1980.

Melnalksnis, Augusts. Latviešu kolonijas. Valmiera, 1918.

Forename Friday – ZiedÄ«te

Today’s name is ZiedÄ«te. This is a female name.

According to Klāvs Siliņš’ LatvieÅ¡u personvārdu vārdnica (Dictionary of Latvian Personal Names), ZiedÄ«te comes from the Latvian verb “ziedÄ“t”, which means “to blossom”, and was first seen in 1915 in Zemgale, the southern part of Latvia. It was most popular in 1975, where it represented 0.03% of names given in Vidzeme and Kurzeme. According to the PMLP name database, there are currently 175 ZiedÄ«tes in Latvia (173 if you don’t count where ZiedÄ«te is paired with a middle name).