How to trace your ancestors in Norway? Pearl Torii

What do you have at home? An old Bible? A diary? An old letter from Norway? A picture? It could give you a name, a farm name, an address etc.

Sources in the country they settled Marriage or Death Certificates – any trace of place of birth? Obituaries Immigration Records - Passenger Lists and Naturalization Records. ◦ Passenger list – the port of departure? ◦ You could find the Naturalization application form. Censuses ◦ 1900 US census – how many years they have stayed in US. ◦ From 1920 US census – listing the year they arrived. Norwegian Lutheran Church Records in US ◦ Membership Lists

Emigrant Records You will find Registers, Ship’s lists, Pass registers. ◦ Some of the early records are found at From the Emigrant Registers. ◦ You could find their name, home address, date of departure, name of ship and destination. ◦ You could find them in The Digital Archives Choose “Database selector” and “Emigrants”. ◦ Not all of the records are online! They will be in archives in hand written books. See if you could match sources from US/Canada with Norwegian sources.

The Digital Archives ( includes: ◦ Emigrant protocols. ◦ Passport records. ◦ People moving in and out from the parish. ◦ Norwegians in US Census (“utlandet”). ◦ Norwegians in US Church records (“utlandet”). ◦ Martin Ulvestad; Nordmænd i Amerika. Some Norwegian Ports of emigration: ◦ Oslo (Kristiania), Bergen, Stavanger, Ålesund, Kristiansund, Trondheim, Arendal, Larvik, Sandefjord and Kristiansand (S). Emigrant Records II

Nowegain Censuses (Folketellinger, manntall) Some Census Years (Manntall) (Manntall) Restriction 100 years on Censuses 1660´s and 1701 – only men are recorded (manntall) – first census including everybody – also how many times marriages a person has been married. 1865, 1875 and 1900 – included “place of birth” – only for cities. You could find censuses at

Church Records (Kirkebøker) The first records from 1623, Andebu in Vestfold district. From 1730 Church Records are found in most parishes in Norway – the Church Records are standardized. You could find births, deaths, confirmation, vaccination, arrivals/departures, membership. The Norwegian Church Records have restrictions –80 years from the ones who are online. Originals are found at Some searchable records are available at

An example of Church Record and Gothic Script 1817 Column headings could be found in bottom at Source: Biri Kirkebok , folio 25 a.

Gothic script The degree of difficulty depends on: ◦ Ink ◦ Paper ◦ Handwriting ◦ Period An older script can be easier to read than a newer one! ◦ Spend time to get aquantinted with a persons hand writing. ◦ Try to learn the gotihc alphabet. Gothic script –

Secondary sources Bygdebøker (country books). Norske gårdsbruk – old and new books in one. Genealogy books. Articels. Internet – family trees.

Language Different pronunciation than in the English language. Special letters after a-z is “æ”, “ø” and “å” (“aa”). Danish spelling in old papers.

Dictionaries Dictionaries: ◦ English/Norwegian Dictionarie from Vega Forlag – book with CD (for sale in Norway). ◦ ◦ / / Special words: ◦

Norwegian genealogy online How to trace your ancestors in Norway Research outline (LDS) - _Norway.pdf _Norway.pdf Riksarkivet -

Genealogy societies, forums, lists (The Norwegian Genealogical Society) (The Genealogy Society of Norway - DIS) (The Digital Archive) - The User´s forum Norwaylist etc.

Maps Finn “kartsøk” Hvor “Søk” Norgesglasset Google - Air photos - Pontoppidan’s map

Help from professionals? It is no certification of genealogists in Norway. Some education at Universities – check education and reputation of the one offering you help (Local history from Sogn og Fjordane University College, Genealogy studies at Volda University College). Do not make payment to a private account – get an invoice! Professionals at NSF - The Norwegian Genealogical Society´s webpage has been discussed at a board meeting before published on webpage. The Norwegian American Genealogical Center and Naeseth Library, Madison, WI -