What do you do if you have little to go on when it comes to researching your Latvian ancestors? What if they emigrated in the late 1800s or early 1900s, and the only information that passenger lists or naturalization records
V is for Vitebsk
So now the Family History Through the Alphabet challenge has the last Latvian province of the Russian Empire… Vitebsk! Like Livland, Vitebsk is also divided between different countries in the modern day. Only the northwest portion of Vitebsk is a
Å is for Å anhaja
“Å anhaja” is the Latvian name for “Shanghai”. But wait – why is a Chinese city a topic on a Latvian genealogy blog? A year or so ago, the idea of Latvians in China might have seemed a bit strange to
Ņ is for Ņižņijnovgoroda
Wow! That sure looks like a mouthful, doesn’t it? Don’t be too afraid though. This latest edition of Family History Through the Alphabet is just the Latvian name for the Russian city and oblast of Nizhny Novgorod. Nizhny Novgorod is
Ī is for Īrija
Okay, this one is a stretch. But for this tricky letter of the Latvian alphabet and the Family History Through the Alphabet challenge, it’s all I’ve got. “Īrija” is Latvian for “Ireland”. In this series, I have already mentioned a
D is for Denmark
It is time for the letter “D” in the Family History Through the Alphabet challenge! D is for Denmark After the Second World War, there were thousands of Displaced Persons (DPs) across Western Europe, having escaped the Soviet takeovers of
B is for Baptists and Brazil
Now up on the Family History through the Alphabet challenge… B is for Baptists and Brazil Now, you may be wondering what Baptists have to do with Brazil, and what either have to do with Latvia. Quite a lot actually!
“Who Do You Think You Are?” – Rashida Jones Episode Review
I never thought that this was something I’d end up doing on this blog – reviewing a Who Do You Think You Are? episode. But it has happened – last weekend’s episode took place partially in Latvia! The celebrity in
Latvian Genealogy Primer – Part 2
Part 2 – Genealogical Sources After reading Part 1 of this primer, and the historical context of Latvian emigration, now it is time to move to genealogical sources – the resources that you can use to trace your Latvian ancestry.
Latvian Genealogy Primer – Part 1
Ready to move on to genealogical sources? See Part 2 of this primer here. Part 1 – Historical Context What You Need to Know about Latvia Latvia is a country in northeastern Europe, bordered by Estonia, Russia, Belarus and Lithuania.