So now we have come to the end of the Family History Through the Alphabet challenge! I’m happy that I’ve been able to complete the whole challenge. What next, I wonder? So, Ž is for ŽandarmÄ“rija… “žandarmÄ“rija” is the Latvian
Z is for Zemnieki
What? No W, X or Y? Nope! Latvian does not have these letters, so we now have two left – Z and Ž. Now we have Z for the Family History Through the Alphabet challenge! “Zemnieki” is the Latvian word
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
Ū is for Ūdens and Ūdrs
Once again we have some Latvian surnames for a more obscure Latvian letter of the alphabet for the Family History Through the Alphabet challenge. “Ū” is a long U sound. ŪDENS means “water”. In old orthography, it would have been
U is for Ultimatum
I know, the official ending of the Family History Through the Alphabet challenge is this week, and I still have a few letters to go, but I did start the challenge late (two months late!), and I had extra letters
T is for Tartu
So again, the Family History Through the Alphabet challenge has the name of a city that is not in Latvia. But this time it is closer to home – Tartu is a city in Estonia, which, at the time of
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
S is for Social Estate
As promised during M is for Manorial Estate, now we have S is for Social Estate for the Family History Through the Alphabet challenge! While Manorial Estate was all about the countryside, Social Estate is primarily about the cities. Technically,
R is for Raduraksti
But wait, what about Q? Well, the Latvian alphabet doesn’t have a Q, so R is the next letter of the Family History Through the Alphabet challenge! This is only the first letter I’m skipping, and being as I’ve done
P is for Parish
Let’s continue the Family History Through the Alphabet challenge! The important word of the day is “parish” – and in Latvian, it has a name with a P too – “pagasts”. Now, this refers to civil parishes, rather than religious