What do we have for today’s Surname Saturday? A new content category on the Latvian Surname Project! If you’ve stopped by the Latvian Surname Project recently, you may have happened across some of the work I’ve been doing adding surnames
Surname Saturday – Curiosities of Patkule Parish
Welcome back to Surname Saturday at Discovering Latvian Roots! Where did our surnames come from? That is always a question that we wonder. Since most ethnic Latvians got their surnames relatively recently (in terms of the entire scope of human
Surname Saturday – Olympic Victors
Time to celebrate the Latvian medalists of the 2012 Olympics! This can fit in nicely with Surname Saturday – let’s take a look at their names, shall we? The first Latvian medalists of 2012 were bronze medalists MÄrtiņš Pļaviņš and
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 –
Surname Saturday – Different Kinds of Hills
As many of you probably know, the Latvian word for hill, “kalns”, is a fairly common Latvian surname, particularly in its diminutive form Kalniņš. But there are many different kind of “kalns” as well, as evidenced by my journeys through
Surname Saturday – Å Ä«rs
Welcome to the return of Surname Saturday at Discovering Latvian Roots! Today’s surname is Å Ä«rs – this is the maiden name of my great-grandmother Lilija, who married Augusts LÅ«kins in 1921. Lilija’s parents were JÄ“kabs Å Ä«rs and KristÄ«ne Kukure. This
Surname Saturday – Government Approved, Part 4
It’s been six months since I posted one of these lists… well, better late than never! The summer was very busy, and I moved, and only now have I recovered where I put these papers. Onto the names! As before,
Surname Saturday – Government Approved, Part 3
Sorry for the long delay, school has been absolutely out of hand! But the summer arrives a week from now, so hopefully there will be more time to write here. I believe I’ve caught up on my email correspondence recently
Surname Saturday – Government Approved, Part 2
Following along from my post two weeks ago, I am currently posting surnames that were approved and suggested by the government of Livland in the 1820s for peasants if they needed some ideas and inspiration. This week’s category: Personal Attributes
Surname Saturday – Government Approved, Part 1
As I’ve mentioned before, surnames for peasants came relatively recently in Latvia – the early to mid 1800s. When the provincial governments issued the decree abolishing serfdom, soon after also came the surname proclamations. After peasants started giving themselves surnames,