In the 1840s, many Latvians in Vidzeme Region converted to Orthodox Christianity. They received new, Orthodox names. How to identify your...

What are soul revision transfer lists and how to read them? What do the German column headings mean?

This post is short information what revision lists are and what the numbers and column headings mean. Soul revision lists are the most...

Most people are curious to see exactly where their ancestors lived. Does the farm still exist? Or what is in its place?...

In the 1890s, Russian, instead of German, was required as the administrative language in the Baltic governorates. Church books had to be...

If your ancestors were from Latgale Region, they were probably Roman Catholic. Earlier Catholic church books were written in Polish, but...

Reading church book records in German and Russian is the first challenge when researching Latvian ancestry. See below for visual help on...

Is your name a "real" Latvian name? To the disappointment of many Latvians even names that we think are real Latvian names are Christian...