Commonly Used Genealogy Words Translated

18 Responses

  1. Maria Robinson says:

    I believe there is an error in the French Column, the words for Will / Testament are the same for Year.

    Thanks in advance

    Maria

  2. Jane says:

    I love the fact that you have done this list!!! Unfortunately, when I download and print it the document is too blurry to read. Could you possible email it direct.

    Thanks in advance
    Jane

  3. Roger Lustig says:

    Thanks! Very handy indeed. Should go up on many walls.

    A few fixes in the German column:
    –Son = Sohn
    –Day = Tag (not day!)
    –be careful to capitalize nouns and only nouns!
    –other words for Jewish: mosaisch (very common in civil vital records); alttestamentarisch (not so common, but fun)
    –important Protestant denomination: reformiert
    –last will: also Testament
    –civil registration (also registry office–cf. French column): also Magistrat, Buergermeisterei, etc.

    Also, you might consider adding rows for Ancestor and Descendant.

  4. Roger Lustig says:

    Other common words to consider if you ever do a 2nd page: witness, week, family, aunt, uncle, cousin, grandfather, stepmother, etc.

  5. Joan says:

    After reading the comments above, I think I am missing a page. My sheet#1 does not have any words after m for Mother….I don’t have son, last will etc. i am interested in the German words.

  6. Ralph Lynn Erickson. says:

    Dear Tami,
    Some corrections for you to consider. You should change the Danish word you have for “wills” to “skifteprotokollerne”. There are very few wills in Denmark (upper class only). Skifteprotokollerne translates as probate/inventory. There are many more of these for the lower classes. In the Swedish word list change the word for census (mantalslängd) to husförhörslängd. Mantalslängd is actually a tax list, while husförhörslängd is a household census which was kept by the Lutheran minister. These corrections will make your word lists more accurate. You’re welcome!
    R. Erickson

    • Thank you so very much Ralph! I will gladly make those changes shortly. I really do appreciate getting the ‘skinny’ from folks that are more fluent in the languages, for sure!!

      • Ralph Erickson says:

        Dear Tami,
        One more correction for the Swedish word list. The correct term for wills is Bouppteckning. Again, wills apply to the upper class only. In the case for most of the lower classes, a household inventory was conducted following a death. These inventories of personal effects were know as “bouppteckning”. This is a better choice than the word you have currently in your word list. You’re welcome.
        Ralph Erickson

  7. Polly Kimmitt says:

    Hi Tami,

    Thank you for doing this. Very useful for the occasional dabbler into non-English language records. In the Italian column Baptist should be Battista. Battezzatore means baptizer. Also under marriage, it is matrimonio with an i.

    Polly

  8. Ralph Erickson says:

    Dear Tami,
    I write one last time. I don’t wish to be thought of as a nit-picker. In the Norwegian list, I believe the Norwegian word for marriage is either ekteviede or aegteviede. In the Norwegian alphabet the last three letters after Z are
    Ã…, AE, and O with a slanted line. I don’t believe it is correct to write egteviede. I believe you must use either ekteviede or aegteviede. I hope this helps.
    Ralph Erickson

    • Ted Melina Raab says:

      I’m a bit late to the party but have some evidence that bears on this comment. I’m looking at images of a turn-of-the-century church-book from Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church in Brooklyn, NY. The marriage pages are headed with gothic script and entitled “egteviede.” A quick web search will turn up plenty of examples of this spelling, along with uses of “ægteviede.”

  1. July 25

    […] Tennessee Genealogy. Oklahoma Genealogy. Mississippi Genealogy. Georgia Genealogy. Common Words Charts ~ Relatively Curious. […]

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Like & Follow us on social media!

%d bloggers like this: