As I’ve mentioned before, most Latvians didn’t have surnames prior to the early 19th century. They were peasants, and until serfdom was abolished, surnames were not a necessity since they were tied to the land. It was only afterwards that
Project Update – June 2, 2010
The Latvian Surname Project has been updated! The total name count is now 800, I added 200 new names including TRĪSTILTIŅŠand PODNIEKS. Today I am also launching a new project, the Latvian Farm Project. The goal of this project
Surname Saturday – Compound Surnames
Welcome back to Surname Saturday on Discovering Latvian Roots! This week I’m going to talk about compound surnames – that is, a surname formed from two words, rather than one. These are a relative rarity in Latvian surnames when it
Project Update – April 22, 2010
The Latvian Surname Project has been updated! I have added 80 new names, including MUITNIEKS and SALNA. I went to records in several different corners of Latvia for this one, so there are names from parishes such as Rucava in
Sorting Out Ethnicity
So you have established that your ancestors lived on Latvian territory. But what were their ethnic origins? Latvia has been a multi-ethnic territory for centuries, so the distinctions between ethnic groups might not always be so clear in the old
Project Update – February 15, 2010
The Latvian Surname Project has been updated! The Surname Project has 153 new names, including BÄ’RZLAPA and MIEŽUVÄ€RPA. That brings the total number of surnames in the project so far to 521! I’m afraid I don’t have a Record Project
Surname Saturday – Time for Dinner!
When Latvian peasants were choosing surnames after emancipation from serfdom, they were strongly encouraged by the German and Russian rulers to choose names in their own language, and were forbidden to choose names of local nobles or famous people. While
Project Update – January 31, 2010
The Latvian Record Project and the Latvian Surname Project have been updated! The Surname Project has 100 new names, including KALÄ’JS and ZVEJNIEKS. The Record Project has 368 new records in Limbaži marriages 1890-1899. That’s all for this update! Updates
Surname Saturday – Kukurs
This edition of Surname Saturday is about the surname Kukurs. I have chosen this surname for two reasons – a person with this surname in my family tree is currently giving me trouble, and I happened across the definition of
Project Updates – January 21, 2010
The Latvian Record Project and the Latvian Surname Project have been updated! The Surname Project has 61 new names, including LAPSA and DZĒRVE. The Record Project has 1075 new records, including Limbaži baptisms 1900-1905, Lēdurga baptisms 1900, Limbaži marriages 1900-1905,