Genealogical research for ancestors who didn’t speak the same language as you can be intimidating. If you have hesitated to research your Norwegian ancestry, don't let your fear of the language stop you.
Millions of online digitized records and many guides make tracing your Norwegian family history easier than you can imagine. In this article, we will arm you with some basic background knowledge about Norway, the types of historical records you’ll use, and more resources to help you discover your Norwegian ancestors.
Get Started with Some Basic Background Knowledge
Knowing some Norwegian history, emigration patterns, and naming conventions through the generations will also help you recognize your ancestors in the records.
Date formats and handwriting for both Norwegian and Latin differ from today’s systems. The FamilySearch Research Wiki has guides that will help you.
Develop a Research Strategy for Norway
Your family may know more than you realize. Ask your living relatives about your family history—they may have stories for you to record. Look for names, dates, and places on documents that may be gathering dust in an attic, inside a family Bible, or in an old photo album. To get started, organize the information you find.
Write down what you are trying to find and where you looked. Keep track of the records that you have searched and the dates your sources cover. This information will pay dividends as you search more records and make more discoveries for each of your Norwegian ancestors.
Tracing Immigrants to Their Place of Origin
If your ancestors were born in Norway and immigrated to the United States, the first records you will find your family in will likely be the United States census, vital records (birth, marriage, and death records), and Lutheran Church records. The Lutheran Church was the state church in Norway, and many immigrants participated in the same church when they moved to the United States.
Use the details you glean from local records to search for immigration and emigration records. Use passenger lists, information about ports of entry and departure, ship names, age on arrival, and intended final destination. Bear in mind that people often traveled with their relatives. Finding relatives who may have taken on a different surname is often the key to identifying the place of origin. Find out as much as you can about when your ancestors arrived and where they came from.
Check out these blog articles for further help in finding an immigrant ancestor’s place of origin:
Types of Norwegian Records
Did you know that Norway is famous for keeping and protecting excellent records? If your family history extends back to Norway, you can likely trace your family lines for many generations using Norwegian historical records. We’ll give you a brief overview of the types of records, where to find them, and the genealogical information they can give you.
Parish Records
The most important records for family history are Norwegian church records, or kirkebøker, kept by Lutheran parishes. A parish (sokn) is the local ecclesiastical record-keeping unit for vital records. Information about almost everyone who lived in Norway was recorded in a church record.
For a time, a church warden or assistant typically made duplicate records for the parish so nothing would be lost. Look for both the primary record (ministerialbok) and a duplicate (klokkerbok); one may be more legible than the other.
Norway parish registers include information about christenings, marriages, and burials. Parish records may include member confirmations and marriage banns as well as information about people moving in and out of the parish. This FamilySearch Research Wiki article will give you more information on finding Norwegian church records.
Census Records
Some of the more productive genealogical sources are the Norway censuses. Beginning in the 1800s, censuses included the names of all members living together in a household, as well as the following additional information:
- Ages
- Relationships
- Occupations
- Names of the farm
- Parish names
The following censuses on FamilySearch.org are noteworthy for their genealogical value:
- The 1801, 1865, and 1891 Norway censuses (online collections)
- The index to the 1875 Norway census (partially completed index, with searchable records organized by county, clerical district, and parish)
- The 1900 Norway census (searchable index)
These censuses are also available at Ancestry.com, MyHeritage.com, and the Norwegian Digital Archives (digitalarkivet). These other websites also provide access to the 1910 Norway census. The 1920 census is available only at the Norwegian Digital Archives. Check out this article from the FamilySearch wiki for more help in tracking down Norwegian censuses.
Farm Books
Bygdebøker, or farm books, are one of the many reasons genealogical researchers love Norway. These books are filled with a detailed history of the farms and often include genealogical information. Some of the information in these books predates the parish registers.
Until about 1900, most Norwegians lived in rural areas, where farming was the way of life for hundreds or even thousands of years. They tended to live in solitary homesteads scattered across the landscape, rather than clustered together in villages. Rural communities or districts, called bygds, often encompassed numerous farms. The bygdebøker give information about the people living on the farms in these communities as well as a history of the communities themselves.
In the early 1900s, the Norwegian Historical Association began a significant, ongoing effort to document the history of each bygd. They laid the groundwork as local historians began researching the histories of farms and local communities. The writers compiled narratives from parish records, legal records (such as tax, court, or estate documents), and other historical sources as well as from interviews with residents.
Bygdebøker are the earliest way of identifying places and the locations of families. Compiled by local historians, they reveal who lived on which farms throughout the generations, who may have inherited the farms, who may have immigrated to what country, and when a person died.
Check out this FamilySearch wiki page to learn how to research with Norway farm books.
Get Help with Norwegian Genealogy
The genealogical community can be a helpful resource for getting started. For additional help, you can connect with online forums and other researchers doing family history. Some places to get started are listed below.
- The Nordic Countries Group is a forum on FamilySearch.org for Scandinavian research.
- The Norway Societies page will connect you to genealogical and historical societies in local communities. Many of these groups publish books and periodicals that will be of value to you.
- The Norwegian-American Bygdelagenes Fellesraad is an umbrella organization for North American bygdelags, which are societies that nurture and perpetuate Norwegian culture and heritage. The organizations are made up of descendants of people who immigrated to North America. The website also has links to Facebook pages for each area, additional pages, and links, along with other research helps.
- The Norwegian-American Historical Association collects and preserves material about the Norwegian American experience. They have many relevant publications and manuscript collections; they also have an archive of articles, obituaries, and newspapers.
- Another place to look is the Norwegian-American Genealogical Association. They have church record transcriptions, a collection of books, maps, publications, family histories, and a Facebook page.
- Find a FamilySearch center near you. This resource will put you in touch with experts and help you access partner sites that have additional records for Norway genealogy.
Search Original Norwegian Records
To look for birth, christening, marriage, and death records, start at FamilySearch’s Norway country page.
Browse the images and use the Norway FamilySearch wiki page to help you recognize which records will help you. Indexed records usually have place-names, dates, and other details that will lead to more discoveries in other Norwegian records.
If you can’t find the records you need on FamilySearch.org, the National Archives of Norway is a key place to search. In the National Archives, Norway’s Digital Archives (Digitalarkivet) contain images from parish registers and other digitized source documents.
Learn More about Your Norwegian Heritage
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