Looking for information on what your surname means, but it isn’t listed in the Latvian Surname Project?

Have a question about Latvian genealogy that doesn’t specifically relate to a post here, but not sure where to post it?

Interested in starting a One-Name or One-Place Study for a Latvian name or parish, but a bit intimidated as to how to get started, and looking for other participants?

Look no further – Today I am unveiling my newest website feature: a forum! There you can ask your questions, connect with other people researching the same names and places, and we can build a good research community over there. The forum is intended to provide a place where people can talk about Latvian genealogy, history and research beyond the initial “getting started” stage (though if you have those questions too, don’t be shy – just read the posts that I’ve mentioned in the “Questions and Answers” forum first to see if your question has already been answered), so sign up and join in! Edit: The joining process will require you to answer a question on Latvian surnames (to try and prevent spam, see below for other measures taken): The answers are available on the Facebook page or the Latvian Surname Project.

When you request a forum for a surname or parish, I will also let you know if there is already work being done in Latvian on the topic you are researching – there are quite a few groups in Latvia engaged in “novadpÄ“tniecÄ«ba” (researching parishes/districts) in a number of different parishes, so hopefully the research can be connected together.

If you have another idea for a forum, let me know and I’ll set it up!

EDIT: Due to spam (already?!) appearing in the forum, I have enabled the setting to require admin approval before a user account can be registered. Please let me know if I reject you in error. Thank you.

EDIT #2: Due to continuing attempts at spam account creation, and the fact that this is starting to cut into my time, I have blocked the email domains for the worst offenders. These include a number of Russian domains, and I know there are a number of people in Russia who are interested in Latvian genealogy, so if this is the case for you and you are thus unable to register for a forum account, please leave a comment here or send me an email with the stated reason for your interest and your email address/preferred username, and I will set up an account for you manually. Sorry for the extra steps, blame the spammers who use those email domains. Thank you.