Hungary Beginning Research: Difference between revisions

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Begin with family and home sources. Look for names, dates, and places on certificates, family Bibles, obituaries, diaries, and similar sources. Ask your relatives for any additional information they may have. It's likely that your second cousin, great-aunt, or other relative already has some family information. Organize the information you find, and record it on pedigree charts and family group records.  

*Locating the marriage date and place for the parents on a family group record

Before doing Hungarian family history research, you will need to find:  

To learn more about Hungarian given names and their English equivalents see [[Hungary Names Personal|Personal Names]].  

If you cannot find an exact date, you may estimate dates based on other information. You need at least the approximate year of an event. You may use standard genealogical approximation. From a marriage date, you can estimate that a man was married at age 25 and a woman at age 21. You can also estimate that a first child was born one year after the parent's marriage and that subsequent children were born every 2 years after that.  

In Hungary, most records used in family history research are kept on a town or parish level. Therefore the exact town of origin must be known before research in Hungarian records can begin. Most of the time, the Hungarian place of origin is found in sources created in the country of immigration. These records should be searched for the ancestor, possible relatives, and other associated persons. If you do not know the place of origin in Hungary see [[Hungary Determining a Place of Origin|Determining a Place of Origin in Hungary]] for sources that may give you that information.  

To learn about several important gazetters for Hungary, including instructions and examples, see [[Hungary Gazetteers|Gazetteers]].  

After you have determined the correct name of the town from which your ancestor emigrated, you must still determine its location. Many Hungarian localities have similar names that may be easily confused. In addition, there are place names preceded by an adjective and places followed by a description. Also, Hungarian grammatical endings can change an actual place name.  

Use [[Hungary Gazetteers|gazetteer]] to locate the place your ancestor came from and to determine the location of the parish or synagogue where records were kept.  

Until the 1900s, vital records were kept by church parishes or Jewish congregations. The records of different religions were kept separately. If you are not sure of your ancestor's religion, start by searching Roman-Catholic records. Catholicism was the dominant religion in the former Austro-Hungarian Empire. No religion of an ancestor is needed for research in the civil registration records.  

Not every village in Hungary had its own parish. Often, several smaller villages belonged to one parish. Use [[Hungary Gazetteers|gazetteer]] to determine the location of the parish or synagogue where records were kept. Once you have determined the location of the church or synagogue, use the [http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Library/FHLC/frameset_fhlc.asp Family History Library Catalog] to get the film numbers of the available records. You can then order the appropriate films.  

The best sources of genealogical information in Hungary are the church records kept by the local parishes. The Family History Library has microfilmed records from Hungary. Use the [http://www.familysearch.org/eng/Library/FHLC/frameset_fhlc.asp Family History Library Catalog] to determine what records are available for the locality.  

Please refer to the [[Hungary Letter Writing Guide|Letter Writing Guide]] for detailed information.  

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