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North Macedonia Genealogy

Church Records

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

Historical Background

Eastern Orthodox Christianity is the majority faith of North Macedonia, making up 65% of the population, the vast majority of whom belong to the Macedonian Orthodox Church. Various other Christian denominations account for 0.4% of the population. Muslims constitute 33.3% of the population. North Macedonia has the fifth-highest proportion of Muslims in Europe, after those of Kosovo (96%),[224] Türkiye (90%),[225] Albania (59%),[226] and Bosnia and Herzegovina (51%).[227] Most Muslims are Albanians, Turks, or Romani; few are Macedonian Muslims.

Orthodox Church Records

Eparchies of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Macedonia

Information Recorded in the 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):

Baptisms

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:

baptism date the infant's name parents' names father's occupation

status of legitimacy occasionally, names of grandparents names of witnesses or godparents, who may be relatives

birth date and place the family's place of residence death information, as an added note or signified by a cross

Marriages

Marriage registers can give:

the marriage date the names of the bride and groom indicate whether the bride and groom were single or widowed their ages

birth dates and places for the bride and groom their residences their occupations

birthplaces of the bride and groom parents' names (after 1800) the names of previous spouses and their death dates names of witnesses, who might be relatives.

Burials

Burial registers may give:

the name of the deceased the date and place of death or burial the deceased's age place of residence

cause of death the names of survivors, especially a widow or widower deceased's birth date and place parents' names, or at least the father's name

How to Find Records

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 Macedonia.

b. Click on Places within Macedonia 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. . 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 records.

How to Find the Records

You will probably need to write to or email the national archives, the diocese, or local parish priests to find records. Macedonian is the official language and requests for records should be in that language.Use Letter Writing Guide for Genealogy for help with composing letters. Then, use a Macedonian translation service.

• The State Archives of the Republic of North Macedonia
  
  • Department of Bitola has birth registers, weddings and deaths from 1801/1962
  • Department of Ohrid has records of the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Islamic Religious Community.
  • Department of Prilep has records the religious institutions of the Orthodox Church from the church municipalities and churches (1872-1945)
  • Department of Strumica has Methodist church records back to 1882.
  • Department of Tetovo has records from the Orthodox Church (1887-1937) - bishop's offices, church communities, churches and monasteries, and the Islamic Religious Community (1930-1944) - Waqa's attorneys and imams.
  • Department of Stip has records from the Orthodox Church (1918-1948) - bishop's offices, parishes, churches and monasteries and from the Islamic Religious Community (1921-1946) - Muftis in Stip, Kocani and Radovish.
    

• List of Churches in the Republic of Macedonia Macedonian is the official language and requests for records should be in that language.