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Many Slavic surnames are created by adding possessive and other suffixes to given names, occupations, descriptions, residences, and other words.

For information about records for non-Christian religions in Lithuania, go to the Religious Records page.

Introduction
Historically, the predominant religion in Lithuania has been Christianity, with the largest confession being that of the Roman Catholic Church.[2] There were also smaller groups of Evangelical and Reformed Protestants, Russian Orthodox, Jews, and Old Believer Orthodox. The first census taken in 1923 in independent Lithuania established the following religious distribution: Catholic — 85.7%; Jews — 7.75; Protestant — 3.8%; Greek Orthodox — 2.7%.

The church acted as both a religious and civil agent in recording vital events and church sacraments such as baptism and burial. These records are commonly referred to as church records, metrical records or metrical books. The priests made a transcript of their records for the ecclesiastical court (dukhovnaia konsistoriia) having jurisdiction. Jewish transcripts were filed with the local town council (gorodskaia duma). Old Believer and Baptist transcripts were sent to the provincial administration (gubernskoe upravlenie). The distinction between the original and the transcript is often ignored by Lithuanian record keepers.

Record Coverage
Population coverage is about 70% coverage for early periods, 90% from about 1830 through the 1940s when civil registration began, with about 50% among minority religions and dissident groups such as Old Believers and Baptists.

Years of record coverage vary depending upon religion and location. See below for some general guidelines:
 * Roman Catholic records began as early as 1613, with transcripts beginning in 1826
 * Jewish records were required to be kept beginning in 1835. Prior to this point, you may find them recorded in the church books of other religious denominations.
 * Evangelical Lutheran/Protestant records began as early as 1641, with transcripts beginning in 1833
 * Greek Catholic/Greek Orthodox records began in 1796
 * Russian Orthodox records began in 1722
 * Old Believers records began in 1874

Location
Lithuanian records may be stored in a variety of places - most commonly the State Historical Archive in Vilnius, but may also be stored in archives of neighboring countries such as the Central State Archives of Belarus (Minsk or Grodno branches). Some of these records are available online as digital images or indexed records. Others may only be accessible via an archive. This Wiki page will teach you about locating the church records.

Information Recorded in Church Records
Different denominations, different time periods, and practices of different record keepers will effect how much information can be found in the records. This outline will show the types of details which might be found (best case scenario):

Births/Baptisms (Gimimo)
In Catholic and Anglican records, children were usually baptized a few days after birth, and therefore, the baptism record proves date of birth. Other religions, such as Baptists, baptized at other points in the member's life. Baptism registers might give:

Marriages (Santuokos)
Marriage registers can give:

Deaths/Burials (Mirties)
Burial registers may give:

Locating the Parish
Metrical records (also commonly referred to as church records) were kept in the local parish of the church. The term parish refers to the jurisdiction of a church minister. Parishes are local congregations that may have included many neighboring villages in their boundaries. You might find them digitized and available online, or you might have to write to a centralized archive or to the local church where they are stored.

To use metrical records, you must know both your ancestor's religion and the town where he or she lived. You must also determine in which parish the town was located. If your ancestor was Catholic, use the Skaitmeninis bažnyčių žemėlapis (Digital map of churches) to determine the closest parish, as well as if records might be online. See below for instructions on how to use it.

Digital Map of (Catholic) Parishes + Links to Records
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.

Click on Skaitmeninis bažnyčių žemėlapis (Digital map of churches)

To locate nearby parishes: To see what records are available online:
 * 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.
 * 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.

Locating Church Records
Once you have determined the location of the parish (see the heading Locating the Parish in this Wiki article for more information), you are ready to start locating records. See below for a variety of different websites and other resources in which you may locate records.

If you know which gubernia or province of the Russian Empire your Lithuanian ancestors lived in, check the Vilna Gubernia Church Records or Kovno Gubernia Church Records pages for more area specific links, information, and resources.

Digital Copies of Church Records in the FamilySearch Catalog
Watch for digitized copies of church records to be added to the collection of the FamilySearch Library. Some records might have viewing restrictions, and can only be viewed at a FamilySearch Center near you, and/or by members of supporting organizations. To find records:
 * a. Click on the records of Lithuania.
 * b. Click on Places within Lithuania and a list of towns will appear.
 * c. Click on your town if it appears, or the location which you believe was the parish which served your town or village.
 * d. Click on the "Church records" topic. Click on the blue links to specific record titles.
 * e. Some combination of these icons will appear at the far right of the listing for the record. FHL icons.png. The magnifying glass indicates that the record is indexed. Clicking on the magnifying glass will take you to the index. Clicking on the camera will take you to an online digital copy of the record.

ePaveldas: Online Catholic Church Records

 * ePaveldas Lithuanian Cultural Heritage Collection is a digital repository and collection of items of Lithuanian heritage and culture, includes almost 4,000 Roman Catholic Church register books. Images, no index. Incomplete.
 * To learn how to use the Online Catholic Church Records available at ePaveldas, check out the "How to" Guide.
 * First, read through the [[Media:1-ePaveldas Records Online-Instruction.pdf|Instructions]].
 * Then test your knowledge with the short [[Media:2-Lithuania-Online Records-Assignment.pdf|Assignment]].
 * The [[Media:3-Lithuania-Online Records-Answer Key.pdf|Answer Key]] is provided to check your answers.

Metrikai: Online Catholic Church Records
Metrikai is a Lithuanian site that indexes metrical records from throughout Lithuania. It's a newer website and is constantly being updated with new indexes and information, so check back often. The website is only available in Lithuanian; however, for non-Lithuanian speakers, you can use Google Translate to help you navigate the site.

Website Translation For help using the site, follow the instructions below.
 * If you use the Google Chrome browser, simply right click anywhere on the page and select the option Translate to English.
 * If you prefer to use another browser, just go to https://translate.google.com/, and change the language settings to translate from English to Russian. Copy and paste the URL of the website you want translated into the English box and click on the link that appears in the Russian box. This will take you to a translated version of the site.
 * In the upper right hand corner, above Powered by Google Translate, click on Select Language and find your language of choice.
 * 1) Go to https://www.metrikai.lt/index.php
 * 2) If needed, translate the website into English (or your preferred language) using the information above.
 * 3) Check to see if records for your parish location have been indexed by looking at the list of parishes on the left hand side (the black column with locations followed by RKB (Roman Catholic), and a number). The number following each parish name represents the number of records indexed from that location. If you do not see your parish in the list, check back in the future. If you do not know the name of the parish, you can search using just a surname in the search box on the main page.
 * 4) If your parish does appear in the list, click on it.
 * 5) In the search box that appears at the top of the page, type in the surname in the Keyword (Raktinis žodis) box. If desired, you can add additional search terms or filter by record type.
 * 6) Press enter or click Search (leškoti).
 * 7) Search results will appear in a columnar format. Keep in mind that Google Translate may not correctly translate all information. See the table below to help you navigate some of the common information that may appear in the columns.

Bažnytiniai dokumentai Lietuvoje (Church Documents in Lithuania)
The Bažnytiniai dokumentai Lietuvoje Wiki page contains records for various location throughout Lithuania and Poland. There are several parishes with documents in the former Vilna Gubernia, most notably in the Troki and Vileĭka districts. The Wiki page is organized by location. Simply click on the name of your parish (keep in mind the parish names are in genitive case, so they may appear a bit differently than you are used to). Simply click on your parish name, and then select the year and record type desired.

Genmetrika
Genmetrika is an "independent" archive, meaning that individuals can contribute their own photos of documents. Due to the nature of the collection, keep in mind that the date ranges and localities represented are broad. Check back often as new metrical books are added frequently. Metrical books are available in a few different places on the site, as shown below:


 * Birth/Baptism registers - there are currently over one-thousand digitized birth/baptismal books.
 * Marriage registers - there are currently over one-thousand digitized marriage books.
 * Death/Burial registers - there are currently over eight-hundred digitized death/burial books.
 * Mixed books - metrical books that are mixed record books containing birth/baptism, marriage, and death/burial all in a single book.
 * Metrics in Lithuanian Churches

Pasvalia
Pasvalia includes Roman Catholic Church records for various years and places. The website is in Lithuanian, but can be easily translated using Google Translate. If using the Google Chrome browser, right click anywhere on the page and select the option Translate to English.

To access church records, click on the green Documents (Dokumentai) button at the top of the screen. Next, click on Book of Metrics (Metrikų knyga). Thumbnails of church record books will appear. To see what kinds of records and for which parish location, hover your mouse over a book and a box will appear providing further information about the book. To view the digital images, click on the thumbnail image. You'll be brought to a page containing additional information about the church book. Click on Download File (Atsisiųsti bylą) to download a copy of the book.

There are also lists of parishioners available. To access these, again click on Documents (Dokumentai) and then choose List of Parishioners (Parapijiečių sąrašas). There are also other types of non-church related documents that you may find useful in your research.

Geneteka
Geneteka contains over 30 million indexes from many regions of Poland. Although it is a Polish website, and focuses on indexing Polish records, it contains indexes for areas that are now in modern day Lithuania. To learn how to use the site, see the Geneteka Indexed Records and Geneteka: Accessing Records "How to" Guides. Search by parish, or choose Lithuania (Litwa) or Belarus (Białoruś). Keep in mind that Geneteka primarily indexes Catholic records, although you may find records of other denominations there.

International Association of Germans from Lithuania
The International Association of Germans from Lithuania is committed to help individuals locate their German ancestors from southwestern Lithuania. Their free searchable database contains thousands of Lutheran church records from southwestern Lithuania. Click here to search the index. Click here to see what records are included in the database, and what records are up and coming. The site is constantly updating and adding new information, so check back often for new information. Click here to learn more about the organization.

Polish State Archives
The Polish archive system consists of many regional archives throughout Poland under the umbrella of the main Polish State Archive in Warsaw. The website incorporates the holdings of all regional archives to help users find and locate records. There are some records for areas that are now in Lithuania. To learn how to use this website, see the Szukaj w Archiwach - The Polish State Archives Website "How to" Guide.

Find MyPast
If your ancestor served in the British Armed Forces and had children abroad in Lithuania, you may find records in the following Findmypast collections.
 * British Armed Forces and Overseas Births and Baptisms, index and images ($)
 * British Armed Forces and Overseas Banns and Marriages,, index and images ($)
 * British Armed Forces and Overseas Deaths and Burials, index and images ($)

Writing the Parish for Records
In some cases, you will not be able to find records online or at archives. In this case, records may still be kept at the local parish or at a diocese office. Below you will find some useful links for locating contact information.

You will need to write to or email the diocese, or local parish priests to find more recent records not deposited in the National Archives. Use the Letter Writing Guide for Genealogy for help with composing letters. Then use an online translator, such as Google Translate to help you translate your message into Lithuanian. As a general rule, you should write inquiries in the language of the person receiving them. Do not expect them to understand or reply in English.

Catholic
Earlier records can be held at the diocese, with more recent records still kept in the local parish. To locate the mailing address or e-mail address for a diocese or local parish, consult:

Diocese Websites
These contain contact information for the diocese as well as lists of parishes, and in some cases their contact information


 * Diocese of Telsiai
 * Diocese of Siauliai
 * Diocese of Vilkaviskis
 * Diocese of Kaisiadorys
 * Diocese of Panevezys

Other links

 * The Catholic Directory: Lithuania
 * Google Maps search results for Catholic churches in Lithuania Be sure to scroll through all the pages.  There will be several pages with 20 entries each.

Lutheran

 * Google Maps search results for Lutheran churches in Lithuania
 * Google Maps search results for Reformed churches in Lithuania

Orthodox

 * Google Maps search results for Orthodox churches in Lithuania
 * St. Vardan Armenian Apostolic Church

Other Protestant

 * Google Maps search results for Methodist churches
 * Google Maps search results for Baptist churches

General

 * Maps.me Church Listings for Lithuania
 * Google Maps search results for churches in Lithuania Be sure to scroll through all the pages.  There will be several pages with 20 entries each.

From the Old page
For help reading records, see Lithuanian Genealogical Word List.

Ancestry.com

 * Lithuania: Birth Records from Various Towns, 1822-1940 (not all years). Index. Incomplete. ($)
 * Lithuania: Death Records from Various Towns, 1845-1940 (not all years). Index. Incomplete. ($)
 * Lithuania: Marriage and Divorce Records from Various Towns, 1855-1940 (not all years). Index. Incomplete.($)



Other Online Church Records



 * Litwa-metryki cz. Lithuania vital records with online images. Map pins indicate villages from which records are available. Includes some records from Belarus.
 * Click the down arrow to the left of "Cz. I i II" to open the full list, which gives all these links.
 * Cz. I i II
 * Cz. III
 * Cz. IV
 * Cz. V
 * Cz. VI
 * Cz. VII
 * A list of records and links to descriptions and images will appear. Example:
 * KOMAJE
 * first book of deaths from 1894 to 1895 year. Description | see
 * 2nd book of deaths of the 19th century. Description | see
 * third book of births of the 20th century. And half Description | See
 * the 4th book of births from 1860 to 1866 year. Description | See
 * 5. book of births from 1866 to 1873 year. Description | See
 * Description and See are clickable links. See takes you to the images.





Writing for Records
You will probably need to write to or email the diocese, or local parish priests to find more recent records not deposited in the National Archives. Use Letter Writing Guide for Genealogy for help with composing letters. Then use a Lithuanian translation service.
 * Maps.me Church Listings for Lithuania
 * Google Maps search results for churches in Lithuania Be sure to scroll through all the pages.  There will be several pages with 20 entries each.

Writing to a Local Parish
Earlier records can be held at the diocese, with more recent records still kept in the local parish. To locate the mailing address or e-mail address for a diocese or local parish, consult:
 * The Catholic Directory: Lithuania
 * Google Maps search results for Catholic churches in Lithuania Be sure to scroll through all the pages.  There will be several pages with 20 entries each.

Historical Background
The Catholic Church in Lithuania is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope in Rome. Lithuania has the highest density of Catholics of all the Baltic states: there are two million Catholics, which is 79% of the total population (2002). The country is divided into eight dioceses including two archdioceses and a military ordinariate. In 2007 there were 779 Catholic priests and 677 parishes.

Catholicism has been the majority denomination since the Christianization of parts of Lithuania proper in 1387 (the Highland) and in 1413 (Samogitia, the Lowland).

The Catholic Church is an influential factor in the country, and some priests actively led the resistance against the Communist regime and, after independence was regained, in support of traditionalism, especially in ethical questions.

Writing for Records

 * Google Maps search results for Lutheran churches in Lithuania

Historical Background
Lutheranism in Lithuania dates back to the 16th century, when it came mainly from the neighboring German-controlled areas of Livonia and East Prussia. A Synod in Vilnius united the church in 1557. The parish network covered nearly all of the Grand Duchy, with district centers in Vilnius, Kedainai, Biržai, Slucke, Kojdanove and Zabludove later Izabeline.

The majority of Prussian Lithuanians living in East Prussia and in Memelland (since 1945 the Klaipėda Region of Lithuania) belonged to the Evangelical Church of the old-Prussian Union. Most resettled in the West Germany after World War II along with the ethnic German inhabitants.

Since 1945, Lutheranism in Lithuania has declined largely due to the ongoing secularization that sweeps throughout Europe.

Writing for Records

 * Google Maps search results for Reformed churches in Lithuania

Historical Background
The Lithuanian Evangelical Reformed Church is a historic denomination which was founded in 1557. In the second half of the 16th century, the Unitarians separated. The denomination has over 7,000 members in 14 congregations. The church is a member of the World Communion of Reformed Churches and the World Reformed Fellowship.

Writing for Records

 * Google Maps search results for Orthodox churches in Lithuania
 * St. Vardan Armenian Apostolic Church

Historical Background
Eastern Orthodoxy claims 4.1% of the population, mainly from the Russian minority. Orthodox Christianity is the first form of Christianity to arrive in Lithuania, with the marriage of Algirdas to Maria of Vitebsk and the martyrdom of Ss. Anthony, John, and Eustathius of Vilnius. The church founded by Maria of Vitebsk, St. Paraskevi Church, is the oldest continuously existing Christian congregation in the country and the only Orthodox church in Lithuania fully worshiping in the Lithuanian language.

Most of the Armenians in Lithuania, making up about 0.1% of population according to its own estimates, belong to the Armenian Apostolic Church, which is often classified as an Oriental Orthodox Church, in distinction from Eastern Orthodox (to which the main Russian, Greek and Georgian Churches belong). An Armenian Apostolic Church St. Vardan was opened in Vilnius in 2006.

Other Protestant Church Records

 * Google Maps search results for Methodist churches
 * Google Maps search results for Baptist churches

Websites for Tobolsk Genealogy
Archive of the city of Tobolsk in the Tyumen region "To help a genealogist" - an index of documents containing genealogical and biographical information stored in the Tobolsk State Archives.

This archival inventory contains information about types of documents held in the Tyumen archive and lists the fond, opis, and delo (archival call numbers) of records for specific locations.

http://www.okorneva.ru/arhiv-g-tobolska-v-tyumenskoy-oblasti/

The forum at VGD can be a great place to ask questions and read through previous posts to learn more about research in Tobolsk gubernia. The following pages on VGD may be of use to you:

Fonds of the Tyumen Archive: lists of records at the Tyumen archive. May be of use to you while you are trying to locate records for your location in the archive.

https://forum.vgd.ru/499/32080/0.htm

Be sure to look for a page for the uyezd, volost, okrug, town, etc. that your ancestor lived in. Area specific pages can be a treasure trove of information and can be a good way to connect with researchers researching in your area - some of which could be potential cousins!

Lithuanian archives - which uyezds are there
https://www.litvaksig.org/information-and-tools/about-our-records/

Archives:

Lithuanian State Historical Archives https://www.litvaksig.org/information-and-tools/archives-and-repositories/lithuanian-state-historical-archives

https://www.rtrfoundation.org/archps6.shtml overview


 * pre-1940 vital records, some revision and family lists - all of the Jewish vital records were filmed by FamilySearch except for vital records transferred from the Lithuanian Central Civil Metrical Archives in January 2002. Most of those records are from 1922-1939, but some are as early as 1881. See an index of vital records in the archive on the Litvak Members site.
 * Contains records for Disna, Lida, Oshmiany, and Vileika uyezds that are now in Belarus.

Lithuanian Central Civil Metrical Archives https://www.litvaksig.org/information-and-tools/archives-and-repositories/lithuanian-central-civil-metrical-archives


 * post 1940 vital records. 15 euros for a transcript of each record.

Lithuanian Central State Archives https://www.litvaksig.org/information-and-tools/archives-and-repositories/lithuanian-central-state-archives

https://www.rtrfoundation.org/archps6.shtml


 * holds school records, internal passport applications, prison records, 191-1940 records, Lithuanian Archive of Image and Sound Vilnius District - there are photographs of 1,222 Jewish Russian Army conscripts from 1900-1914

Lithuanian Special Archives: KGB records, records from 1944-1990, genocide of the Lithuanian people.

Kaunas Regional State Archives https://www.litvaksig.org/information-and-tools/archives-and-repositories/kaunas-regional-state-archives

https://www.rtrfoundation.org/archps6.shtml


 * pre-1915 records for former Kaunas gubernia uyezdi Kaunas, Raseiniai, Telsiai, Siauliai, Panevezys, Ukmerge, Zarasai.
 * Revision/family lists, court records, Internal passport records for Kaunas city, district and Jonava? Does not have any records for Vilnius or Suwalki.

Memel (Klaipeda) Archive https://www.litvaksig.org/information-and-tools/archives-and-repositories/memel-klaipeda-archive no info there, need to do some digging.

Panevezys Archives https://www.litvaksig.org/information-and-tools/archives-and-repositories/panevezys-archives


 * post WWII records - property and tax records for Panevzys and surrounding area

Europeana - 19th-20th centuries

 * Europeana contains nearly 30,000 Estonian newspaper records from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries (the site also contains newspaper records from various European archives). The digital copies were scanned from originals at the National Library of Estonia. The newspapers are not indexed, but you can search for newspapers from a specific time period.

DIAGR Estonian Articles

 * DIAGR Estonian Articles provides access to several thousand newspapers, journals, and serials. In addition to Estonian, many of the digital newspapers available here are written in German and Russian. The collection also includes Estonian American newspapers.


 * SAAGA - free, online records (need to make an account but it's free) - contains newspapers from 16th to 20th century
 * Online Newspapers - extensive list of free digitized newspapers mainly covering 1888-1946

Use the new Holocaust Lists Database at Miriam Weiner's Routes to Roots to determine the location of Holocaust documents such as victim and survivor lists, survival testimonials and more. Holocaust Collections included in this database are from select towns in Belarus, Lithuania, Moldova, Poland, and Ukraine.

Database entries include information about archive the records are stored in and the archival file number. This information will help you locate the original record in the archive.

To determine what holocaust lists may survive, simply search the database by town. Click on an entry to view additional information about the record and its location. After you have determined that Holocaust documents for your town are available, consider searching your surname in the Surname Database. Miriam Weiner has digitized many Holocaust lists and they are accessible through the Surname Database. Keep in mind that this is an ongoing project, so check back often for new information and updates.