Latvia Genealogical Records

Latvia Birth & Baptism Records

Miscellaneous Births & Baptisms Index (1534-1983)

A small index to several-hundred-thousand records from select countries.

Latvia Marriage & Divorce Records

Miscellaneous Marriage Index (1662-1945)

An index to more than 30,000 marriage records, including personal details, names of relations and particulars of marriage.

Latvia Death & Burial Records

Jewish Online Worldwide Burial Registry (1550-Present)

A searchable database of over 1 million Jewish burials with photographs of the matzevot.

Newspapers Covering Latvia

Name Card Index to AP Stories (1905-1990)

An index to over 2.1 million people mentioned in Associated Press stories, including name, subject, location, date and a reference to the article.

AP Stories & Newsfeatures (1937-1985)

An index to and digital images of hundreds-of-thousands of world newspaper articles.

Subject Card Index to AP Stories (1937-1985)

An index to around 500,000 Associated Press articles.

Latvia Military Records

Records from Ten Ghettos (1940-1945)

A database containing genealogical and biographical details of hundreds-of-thousands of Jews living in ghettos in Eastern Europe.

Duma Voter Lists (1906-1907)

An index to over 200,000 names found in lists of registered voters for parts of Moldova, Belarus, Ukraine, Poland and Latvia. The index lists name, voting qualification, residence, property value, age and more.

Jewish Names in US State Department Files (1910-1929)

An index of close to 10,000 Jews named in State Department files. The records cover Palestine, Romania, and Austria-Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Ukraine, Georgia, Yugoslavia, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Turkey, Tripoli, Barca, Greece, Serbia and Bulgaria.

Latvia Directories & Gazetteers

CIA World Factbook (1994)

A statistic and descriptive gazetteer of nations.

World Foreign Gazetteer (1998)

Useful for locating places, this searchable gazetteer gives brief details, latitude and longitude for more than 1.5 million features, places and regions throughout the world.

Latvia Cemeteries

Billion Graves (1200-Present)

Photographs and transcriptions of millions of gravestones from cemeteries around the world.

Latvia Histories & Books

Ancestry Member Photos & Documents (6000 BC-Present)

Over 60 million historic photographs and documents submitted to Ancestry. This rich collection contains many rare sources of interest to local historians and will be relevant to most genealogical research.

Ancestry Member Stories (6000 BC-Present)

Over 7 million remembrances and historic details submitted by Ancestry members. Useful for local historians.

Records from Ten Ghettos (1940-1945)

A database containing genealogical and biographical details of hundreds-of-thousands of Jews living in ghettos in Eastern Europe.

Jewish Donors in Lithuania & Latvia (1893-1903)

An index to lists of names and announcements that were printed in the Hebrew newspaper HaMelitz relating to charitable donations.

Pedigrees & Family Trees Covering Latvia

FamilySearch Community Trees (6000 BC-Present)

A searchable database of linked genealogies compiled from thousands of reputable and not-so-reputable sources. Contains many details on European gentry & nobility, but covers many countries outside Europe and people from all walks of life.

Ancestry Member Family Trees (6000 BC-Present)

A compilation of lineage-linked family trees submitted by Ancestry users. The database contains over 2 billion individuals and is searchable by numerous metrics.

Genealogics (1400 BC-Present)

A searchable database of linked families. It largely covers royalty and nobility, but also contains actors, footballers and American presidents.

Ancestry World Tree (6000 BC-1997)

A collection of legacy trees submitted by Ancestry users containing nearly 400 million individuals.

Lineages of Medieval Baltic Nobility (1100-1568)

The lineages of Baltic royalty and nobility, with biographical details and extracts from historic documents.

Latvia Royalty, Nobility & Heraldry Records

FamilySearch Community Trees (6000 BC-Present)

A searchable database of linked genealogies compiled from thousands of reputable and not-so-reputable sources. Contains many details on European gentry & nobility, but covers many countries outside Europe and people from all walks of life.

Genealogics (1400 BC-Present)

A searchable database of linked families. It largely covers royalty and nobility, but also contains actors, footballers and American presidents.

Lineages of Medieval Baltic Nobility (1100-1568)

The lineages of Baltic royalty and nobility, with biographical details and extracts from historic documents.

Latvia Maps

Old Maps Online (1497-2010)

An interactive index to thousands of maps covering the world, continents, countries and regions. The majority of maps cover Britain and Ireland.

Latvia Reference Works

Jewish Name Database (1400-Present)

A database containing variants of 100,000s of given names used by Jews.

Historical Description

Latvia, one of the new Baltic States, embraces the whole of the former Russian province of Courland, the four southern districts of the former Russian province of Livonia (Riga, Wenden, Wolmar, Walk), and the three north-western districts of the former Russian province of Vitebsk (Dvinsk, Reshitza, Lutzin), known as Latgale.

The whole area is approximately 64,196 square kilometres (about 25,000 square miles), of which 21,184 square kilometres are forests, 17,992 square kilometres meadows and pastures, 17,145 square kilometres arable and, 6,978 waste land.

Population. The population of Latvia before the war exceeded 2 ½ millions, but now according to the census of June 15th, 1920, was just over 1 ½ million ; the population, however, is increasing every week by the war refugees returning from Russia. The overwhelming majority of the population is Lettish.

The Capital of Latvia is Riga, with a population of 181,437 (pre--war population exceeded ½ million). Other principal towns : Libau, Mitau, Windau, Dvinsk, Wolmar, Walk (southern part).

Latvia is principally an agricultural country, and before the war used to export cereals, flax, meat and dairy produce, also timber, to the total value of £12,350,000 per annum. Her industries were also developed in 1910 she had 782 factories with 93,343 workmen, producing merchandise to the value of £20,000,000. However, during the war these were almost totally destroyed.

The Latvian Exports July 1st, 1919, to June 30th, 1920, totalled 501,081.777*, of which 361,791,097 Latvian roubles went to Great Britain.

The Latvian Imports July 1st, 1919, to June 30th, totalled 536,750,181 Latvian roubles, of which 58,042,496 Latvian roubles were from Great Britain.

The Newspaper Press Directory and Advertisers' Guide (1922)

Most Common Surnames in Latvia

RankSurnameIncidenceFrequency
1Berzina11,4481:179
2Ozola10,6431:193
3Ivanova10,1991:201
4Kalnina9,6691:212
5Ozolina7,8981:260
6Berzins7,8941:260
7Ozols6,9721:294
8Jansone6,5981:311
9Kalnins6,4881:316
10Ivanovs6,4711:317
11Ozolins6,0611:338
12Liepina5,6601:362
13Eglite5,3381:384
14Arpa5,1661:397
15Balode4,9091:418
16Krumina4,6381:442
17Andersone4,3521:471
18Vasiljeva4,2471:483
19Dreimanis4,2401:484
20Jansons4,2021:488
21Rudzite4,1381:495
22Petrova4,0021:512
23Vasiljevs3,9531:519
24Liepins3,9081:525
25Zarina3,8411:534
26Krumins3,7741:543
27Vanaga3,7361:549
28Smirnova3,5511:577
29Smirnovs3,5441:578
30Petersons3,5181:583
31Vitola3,5151:583
32Balodis3,4011:603
33Petersone3,3931:604
34Smite3,3841:606
35Karklins3,3421:613
36Karklina3,3351:615
37Fjodorova3,1931:642
38Petrovs3,1771:645
39Liepa3,1581:649
40Klavina3,1191:657
41Mihailova3,1101:659
42Bogdanova3,0271:677
43Grinberga2,9231:701
44Grigorjeva2,7941:734
45Silina2,7841:736
46Priede2,7641:742
47Krastina2,7271:752
48Vanags2,7001:759
49Zarins2,6511:773
50Briede2,5761:796
51Freimane2,5531:803
52Zvirbulis2,5261:812
53Eglitis2,5131:816
54Kuznecova2,4951:822
55Semjonova2,4861:825
56Kudo2,4561:835
57Abolina2,3321:879
58Kravale2,3251:882
59Vitols2,2431:914
60Mihailovs2,2281:920
61Cirule2,2261:921
62Aleksejeva2,2221:923
63Grinbergs2,2151:926
64Lace2,1911:936
65Pavlova2,1901:936
66Silins2,1641:947
67Fjodorovs2,1491:954
68Grigorjevs2,1121:971
69Stepanova2,1021:975
70Andrejeva2,0911:980
71Jakovleva2,0791:986
72Bergs2,0721:989
73Gulbe2,0431:1,003
74Riekstina2,0361:1,007
75Dzene2,0131:1,018
76Strode1,9991:1,026
77Jevstignejevs1,9931:1,029
78Lapina1,9791:1,036
79Auzina1,9681:1,042
80Andersons1,9561:1,048
81Jekabsone1,9461:1,053
82Lacis1,9361:1,059
83Bogdanovs1,8971:1,081
84Mikelsone1,8961:1,081
85Popovica1,8901:1,085
86Kuznecovs1,8851:1,088
87Klavins1,8691:1,097
88Upeniece1,8301:1,120
89Jegorova1,8251:1,123
90Sokolova1,8181:1,128
91Freimanis1,8021:1,138
92Caune1,7921:1,144
93Krastins1,7831:1,150
94Abolins1,7721:1,157
95Paegle1,7331:1,183
96Abele1,7161:1,195
97Li1,7121:1,197
98Baumane1,7081:1,200
99Strods1,7051:1,202
100Nikolajeva1,6891:1,214
101Sproge1,6861:1,216
102Valtere1,6791:1,221
103Volkova1,6761:1,223
104Kozlova1,6661:1,231
105Everte1,6631:1,233
105Lapins1,6631:1,233
107Roze1,6431:1,248
108Semjonovs1,6401:1,250
109Aleksejevs1,6121:1,272
110Strazdina1,5991:1,282
111Miezis1,5701:1,306
112Saulite1,5671:1,308
113Viksna1,5481:1,324
114Kuzmina1,5391:1,332
115Locmele1,5291:1,341
115Novikova1,5291:1,341
117Medne1,5041:1,363
117Purina1,5041:1,363
119Romanova1,4961:1,370
120Linde1,4931:1,373
120Solovjova1,4931:1,373
122Priedite1,4881:1,378
123Leimane1,4801:1,385
124Ronis1,4791:1,386
124Stepanovs1,4791:1,386
126Jakovlevs1,4721:1,393
127Feldmane1,4701:1,395
128Nikitins1,4661:1,398
129Bite1,4631:1,401
130Laizane1,4571:1,407
130Litvinovs1,4571:1,407
132Savicka1,4411:1,423
133Udre1,4301:1,434
134Kozlovska1,4241:1,440
135Briedis1,4181:1,446
136Lebedeva1,4101:1,454
137Luse1,3991:1,465
138Morozova1,3771:1,489
139Nikitina1,3761:1,490
140Andrejevs1,3751:1,491
141Kozlovs1,3701:1,496
142Millere1,3651:1,502
142Timofejeva1,3651:1,502
144Karole1,3571:1,511
145Rudzitis1,3511:1,517
146Zvaigzne1,3471:1,522
147Pavlovs1,3411:1,529
147Rubene1,3411:1,529
149Ziemele1,3321:1,539
150Auzins1,3281:1,544
150Orlova1,3281:1,544
152Punte1,3111:1,564
153Dzenis1,2991:1,578
154Gulbis1,2971:1,581
155Rozenberga1,2921:1,587
156Cirulis1,2911:1,588
157Apsite1,2871:1,593
158Skuja1,2781:1,604
159Mikelsons1,2751:1,608
160Jekabsons1,2671:1,618
161Popova1,2531:1,636
162Vaivods1,2471:1,644
163Dreimane1,2461:1,645
164Bule1,2431:1,649
165Broka1,2331:1,663
166Dmitrijeva1,2181:1,683
167Strazdins1,2161:1,686
168Smits1,2141:1,689
169Locmelis1,2121:1,691
170Berga1,2041:1,703
171Cvetkova1,1951:1,716
172Gailite1,1931:1,718
173Sokolovs1,1881:1,726
174Zaiceva1,1841:1,731
175Zvirbule1,1831:1,733
176Zalite1,1761:1,743
177Antonova1,1721:1,749
177Putnina1,1721:1,749
179Gavrilova1,1701:1,752
179Murniece1,1701:1,752
181Bruvere1,1631:1,763
182Logina1,1611:1,766
183Pole1,1591:1,769
184Nagle1,1511:1,781
185Gaile1,1491:1,784
185Klava1,1491:1,784
187Graudina1,1471:1,787
188Skudra1,1401:1,798
189Buls1,1391:1,800
190Jegorovs1,1281:1,817
191Morozovs1,1271:1,819
192Nikolajevs1,1251:1,822
193Ivanovska1,1141:1,840
194Sergejeva1,1111:1,845
195Kokina1,1061:1,854
195Matvejeva1,1061:1,854
197Sprogis1,1001:1,864
198Kuzmins1,0971:1,869
199Gailis1,0951:1,872
200Skrastins1,0901:1,881