We’ve stumbled onto a particularly difficult letter for the Family History Through the Alphabet challenge… Ä». “Ä»” is an odd letter – sort of like the “ll” in “million”, with more of a “y” added to it.

The only word that I could come up with for this letter is a surname, “Ä»audis”. It means “people” or “folk”. I have seen it as a surname in the Smiltene area. Being technically a plural, it is not a common name. However, a related surname that I’ve seen more often has been “CilvÄ“ks”, which simply means “person”. I have seen this surname in Bauska and Lielvārde.

Want to see more unusual surnames? I’m completely revamping my Latvian Surname Project, stay tuned for its re-launch sometime soon!