Lithuania Gazetteers

In order to locate records, it is essential that you have identified the name of the town where they came from. It is not enough to know only 'Lithuania;' you'll need to know the name of the town. The name of a nearby town, or a district/province name can also be very helpful.

Once you have determined the name of the town your ancestor came from, you'll need to locate it in a gazetteer to find both current and historical town names, jurisdictions, and the parish.

Lithuania was formerly part of the Russian Empire, and consisted of three provinces, or gubernia of the Russian Empire: Kovna, Vilna, and Suvalki.

JewishGen Communities Database
The JewishGen Communities Database contains data on approximately 6,000 Jewish Communities in Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East. It is a great resource to help you locate your ancestor's town - regardless of whether or not your ancestor was Jewish. You can use this database to find modern and historical place names as well as jurisdictions over time. To learn how to use the JewishGen Communities Database "How to" Guide.


 * First, read through the [[Media:1 - Instruction - JewishGen Communities JMR.pdf|Instruction.]]


 * Practice what you learned with the [[Media:2 - Activity - JewishGen Communities JMR.pdf|Activity.]]


 * Use the [[Media:3 - Key - JewishGen Communities JMR (1).pdf|Answer Key]] to check your answers.

Lietuvos Zemelapis
Use the Lietuvos Zemelapis (Map of Lithuania) gazetteer database to determine Lithuanian, Polish, Russian, and/or German versions of town names.

The gazetteer is organized alphabetically. An entry with two words is alphabetized as if it was one word. Alternative names (Lithuanian and Polish, Russian, German, etc.) are cross-referenced. To view information about a particular location, click on the town name. A pop-up window will appear with details such as alternate names, cross references to other entries, and information about landmarks. You will likely encounter abbreviations - use the key found at the top of the page to help you determine the meaning of abbreviations.

Słownik Geograficzny (1864-1918)
The Geographical Dictionary of the Kingdom of Poland and Other Slavonic Countries (in Polish) Słownik Geograficzny Królestwa Polskiego i Innych Krajów Słowiańskich was previously available by book, microfilm, CD and is now available online! It is very useful resource for the period 1864-1918. The Slownik includes descriptions of villages, towns and cities in what is now Belarus and Lithuania as well as Poland.

A searchable version is available at Domena Internetowych Repozytoriów Wiedzy (use the searchbox on the left to search), and on FamilySearch. The gazetteer is in Polish language.

Visit Polish Roots to see translations of the Słownik Geograficzny. On the Polish Roots website, hover your mouse over Geography and Maps, then choose the Słownik for the first letter of the name of the town you are searching for. Entries include information about the town such as location, jurisdictions.

Clickable link to the gazetteer:

Advantages: Available online; shows very detailed information about locations in various areas including the Russian Empire provinces of Suvalki, Kovno, and Vilna. Disadvantages: Browsable images only; in Polish; uses a lot of abbreviations.

Skaitmeninis bažnyčių žemėlapis (Digital Map of Churches)
In order to use this resource, you MUST know the modern-day Lithuanian version of the town name. To do so, use either the Lietuvos Zemelapis or JewishGen Communities Database described above.

Skaitmeninis bažnyčių žemėlapis (Digital map of churches) is a good way to locate parishes nearby your ancestor's town, and to see which churches have online records available. Follow the directions below to use the site. To locate nearby parishes:
 * Click on Skaitmeninis bažnyčių žemėlapis (Digital map of churches)


 * Click on the first tab, Lithuanian Churches (Lietuvos bažnyčios)
 * Type in the name of the town in the search box located in the upper left hand corner. You do not need to type using special characters. As you type, options will start to auto-populate in the drop-down box. Options will be listed by category: Bažnyčios (Church), Parapijos (Parish), Dekanti (Deanery) or Kita (Other).
 * If the town shows up under the Parapijos (Parish) category, this means that there is a Roman Catholic parish within the town itself.
 * If there is not a parish in the town itself, it may show up under the category Kita (Other). In this case, click on the name of the town to see it on a map. Use the green parish markers and deanery boundaries (teal lines) to help you determine which parishes are closest to your town.

To see what records are available online:
 * Click on the third tab, Search by sources of church metrics (Paieška pagal bažnytininų metrikų šaltinius)
 * On the map, places with the red church symbol have known sources online. Places with the gray church symbols do not have records online.
 * Click on the red church icon for a town, and it will link to a list of available online records and where they are found. The list can be two pages with the first page quite blank, and the info you need on the second page. An arrow ">" on the far right takes you to the second page.
 * On the second page is a list of "Related records". To the far right, the arrow ">" leads to a description page of the record.
 * On the description page "More info" takes you to images of the actual records.

Istorinių vietovardžių duomenų bazė (Database of Historical Place Names)
Note that this database does not include all place names in Lithuania.

The Istorinių vietovardžių duomenų bazė is a great place to find information about historical place names, locations of parishes, and information about church records. Follow the instructions below to use the site.


 * Go to Istorinių vietovardžių duomenų bazė. There are two ways to locate a town:

By Alphabetical Order

This option is particularly helpful if you don't know exactly how the town name was spelled, or if you would like to browse town locations with similar names and spellings.


 * On the top of the screen, you'll find the Lithuanian alphabet. Click on the letter that the name of your ancestor's town belongs to.
 * Next, the list of towns will appear on the side bar on the left.
 * Scroll down until you find the town you are looking for. Once you have found it, click on it.
 * The entry page will be in Lithuanian. If using the Google Chrome browser, right click anywhere on the page and choose the option Translate to English.
 * Entries inform you of the current place name and historical place names for various years. To see more details about a historical place name and discover the location of the parish (typically Roman Catholic) click on the down arrow to the right of the place name.
 * The Parish (Parapija) is an important detail to pay attention to. This will help you locate church records. Under Source Name (Šaltinio pavadinimas) and Source Location (Puslapis (Lapas)), you may find reference to a church book or other archival material associated with that town. To locate those records, see the Church Records page on the FamilySearch Wiki, or the Vilna, Kovno, or Suwalki Gubernia Church Records pages on the FamilySearch Wiki for more information.

Other Resources
Hofmann, Harry v. Baltische Postorte 1632-1917/8 [Baltic Postal Places]. Hamburg, 1996. (Book 947.9 E8h 1996). Identifies postal offices for Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania by their Russian and native names.

Gazetteer of Lithuania: Names approved by the United States Board on Geographic Names. Washington D.C. : Defense Mapping Agency, 1994. (Book 947.93 E5g). Modern gazetteer.

Lietuvos katalikų bažnyčios [Lithuanian Catholic parishes]. Vilnius: Pradai, 1993. 623 pages. (Book-947.5 E7k). Identifies parish and parish histories for Lithuania. The text is in Lithuanian. It includes a locality index.

Lietuvių kalbos išteklių informacinė sistema [Lithuanian Language Resource Information System]. Website in Lithuanian. Database of Historical Place Names etc.

Lithuania was created from three imperial provinces: Vilno, Kovno, Suwalki. Gazetteers were published for all of these but two are only available in the FHL.

For Kovno province. Alfavitnyi spisok naselennykh mest Kovenskoi gubernii. [Alphabetical list of populated places of the Kovno Province] Kovna, 1903. (Film 2,268,932 Item 1)

For Vilno province see Belarus Gazetteers.

Lithuania Maps aat the University of Texas.

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Lithuanian Maps