Mark your calendars – on October 2nd, I am launching my new subscription program, “Steps to Latvian Genealogy Success”! Who is this program for? This program is for people who want to do their own Latvian genealogical research, but are
Debunking Latvian Genealogy Myths: The Same Surname Means We’re Related!
This is the third post in a series on debunking myths about Latvian genealogy. See the first post about records availability here and the second post about name spelling here. Today’s myth: I found someone with the same surname. That
Debunking Latvian Genealogy Myths: My Family Name is Only Spelled One Way!
This is the second in a series about myths relating to Latvian genealogy. Go check out the first one about record availability here! Today’s myth: “My ancestors only spelled their surname one way.” Wrong. Very wrong. Very incredibly wrong. If
Finnic Influences in Latvia: Language and Vocabulary
This is the last post in a series on Finnic influences in Latvia. You can also read the other posts in the series about Finnic influence on place names and personal names, as well as read about population crossover at
Finnic Influences in Latvia: Personal Names
Time for my second post on Finnic influences in Latvia – see the first one on place names here. This post was planned for last week, but then my laptop’s motherboard died, and since it would have cost so much
Finnic Influences in Latvia: Place Names
This is the first in a series of posts regarding Finnic influences in Latvia, which will discuss places, names, language and population, as well as the relevance that this will have on your genealogical adventures. Since Finnic peoples were never
Struggling with German Script?
While ruling powers – Germans, Swedes, Russians, Poles, etc. – changed over the centuries, one constant in the ruling class remained: Most local gentry in Latvian territory were Germans. As a result, many documents related to Latvian genealogical research prior
Three Years!
This blog is three years old today! As I’ve said in previous blog anniversaries, when I first started this blog, I never imagined that I would get the response that I have. I’ve had people contact me from all over
G is for Germans
What’s next in the Family History Through the Alphabet challenge? Germans! Germans and the German language have a long history in Latvia. Ever since the first bishops of Bremen came to Latvian territory in the late 12th century to Christianize
Making Sense of Exonyms
So after puzzling through the various alphabets and orthographies, you have been able to establish what your ancestors’ names would have looked like back in the nineteenth and early twentieth century. This is a great first step towards tracking them