Russia, Tatarstan Confession Lists - FamilySearch Historical Records

Title in the Language of the Record
Россия, Татарстанские исповедные ведомости

Record Description
This collection of confession lists for those living within an Orthodox congregation in the Tatarstan Republic (subject of Russia) will include records from 1775-1910. The lists are a census substitute and contain names of those in the congregation, their ages, and whether or not they attended confession. The lists may also include the names of children at least a year old, as well as their gender and ages.

The records are in Russian; see the section "For Help Reading these Records" for access to translation helps.

Church confession lists were created and kept by priests to record the information related to their parishioner’s confessions. The form of confession lists was established in 1737. It includes the sequential number of the household, surname, given names of all children at least one year old, gender, ages, whether or not the person attended confession, and, if not, why the person did not attend (this is rarely noted).

Confessions were done at the time of Lent, the period of the liturgical year from Ash Wednesday to Easter. Children were taken to confession beginning in their seventh year. Russian Orthodox confession lists were sometimes interfiled with the church records of baptisms, marriages, or deaths.

These were considered an official record and are normally very reliable.

Record Content
Confession Records usually contain the following information:


 * Place of confession
 * Names and ages of those in the congregation
 * Names and ages of children over the age of one year
 * Whether or not the person attended confession
 * Reasons for not attending confession are sometimes included
 * Number of males and females

How to Use the Record
Much like censuses, you can track your ancestor with these lists. By comparing the years in which your ancestor went to confession, you can determine migration movements within Russia, marital status and marriage date/place, and the birth/death date and place of children as well as their names, genders, and ages. This process can help you narrow down the years and places in which your ancestor was born, married, and passed away. See "Using the Information" section for detailed ideas on using the information in this record.

When searching: As you are searching it is helpful to know such information as your ancestor's given name and surname, some identifying information such as residence, age, and family relationships.

Search the Collection
To search by image: To search the collection, you will need to follow this series of links: Select "Browse through images" on the initial collection page ⇒Select the appropriate "Province" category ⇒Select the appropriate "District" ⇒Select the appropriate "Year and volume" which takes you to the images.

Search the collection by image, comparing the information with what you already know about your ancestors to determine if the image relates to them. You may need to look at several images and compare the information about the individuals listed in those images to your ancestors to make this determination.

For Help Reading These Records
These records are in Russian. For help reading the records, see the following wiki articles:


 * Russian Genealogical Word List
 * Russia Languages

Using the Information
Finding Your Ancestor's Parents and Birthplace If your ancestor is single and living with his/her parents in a certain list, then use his/her age to determine a birth year. Track your ancestor backward in the lists to determine where your ancestor was born. Once you find the list in which your ancestor was at least one year old, then start looking in birth/baptismal records for the 1-2 years prior to that confession list for that place.

Finding Marriage Information After finding your ancestor on lists for different years, look for his/her marital status. If one year he/she is single and living alone and the next year (or more) he/she is married, then you can discern that he/she married sometime in between those years. Look for marriage records in between those years for that place.

Finding Your Ancestor's Children In addition, look for your ancestor in the years after his/her marriage to find the children, and the children's birth years and places.

If a child is listed one year and not the next (or later years), then it is probable that he/she died in between those years. Search the death and burial records.

Finding Your Ancestor's Death Information Trace your ancestor through the lists until you can no longer find him/her. Not being able to find your ancestor in later lists implies different possibilities: he/she moved to a different country (check immigration/emigration records), he/she left the church, or he/she passed away. If you can't find your ancestor in later lists, then start your search for his/her death record from the date on the last confession list he/she was found.

Follow the same procedure for your ancestor's parents and children.

Tips to Keep in Mind
When looking for a person who had a common name, look at all the entries for the name before deciding which is correct.

Remember that your ancestor may have used nicknames or different names at different times.

Related Websites

 * The Russian Orthodox Church
 * A History of the Orthodox Church: The Church of Russia (1448-1800)
 * Eastern European Family History Society

Related Wiki Articles

 * Russia Church Records
 * Russia

Citations for This Collection
When you copy information from a record, you should list where you found the information; that is, cite your sources. This will help people find the record again and evaluate the reliability of the source. It is also good to keep track of records where you did not find information, including the names of the people you looked for in the records. Citations are available for the collection as a whole and each record or image individually.

Collection citation:

Image citation: