Today’s Surname Saturday name is RudzÄ«tis! This Latvian name is the diminutive of “rudzi”, which means “rye”. It is a relatively common surname, found in many Latvian parishes, including Bauņi, Galgauska, Dauguļi, KrÄslava, LÄ“durga, Limbaži, Nabe, Sece, Sidgunda, Skaņkalne, Stopiņi,
Surname Saturday – Missing Parishes!
If you’ve been paying attention to the Latvian Surname Project, you’ll have noticed that I’ve filled in some gaps in the map on the front page – having added names from the parishes of Ainaži, IpiÄ·i, Lode and Vaidava, I
Surname Saturday – Relationship Between Surnames and Farm Names
Like in many other countries, rural properties in Latvia are known by names, rather than by street numbers as is typical in an urban setting. However, unlike most European countries, these rural Latvians really only acquired surnames in the early
Surname Saturday – Latgalian Surnames
If you’ve been to the Latvian Surname Project, and looked at the map on the front page, you’ll have seen that most of eastern Latvia (Latgale) is blank. Not anymore! Recently I’ve had the opportunity to spend time reading a
Surname Saturday – Estates are Live on the Latvian Surname Project!
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
Latest News – March 16, 1940
This is part of my series of interesting newspaper articles that I find in the old Latvian newspapers available through Periodika. Most of the articles I post are in some way related to migration, wars or other events that are
Latvian Royalty?
Now, the title is a bit of a misnomer. There isn’t a Latvian royal family. Nobles in Latvia were typically German, sometimes Polish, sometimes Russian. But this post is about a group in Latvia that can be considered the closest
Venta’s Voice – February 22, 1940
This is part of my series of interesting newspaper articles that I find in the old Latvian newspapers available through Periodika. Most of the articles I post are in some way related to migration, wars or other events that are
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
Free Country – January 29, 1940
This is part of my series of interesting newspaper articles that I find in the old Latvian newspapers available through Periodika. Most of the articles I post are in some way related to migration, wars or other events that are