Hungary Gazetteers

Magyarország helységnévtára tekintettel a közigazgatási, népességi és hitfelekezeti viszonyokra (Dvorzsák 1877)
Magyarország helységnévtára tekintettel a közigazgatási, népességi és hitfelekezeti viszonyokra. (Gazetteer of Hungary with Administrative, Populational, and Ecclesiastical Circumstances). János Dvorzsák, Budapest: Havi Füzetek Kiadóhivatala, 1877. (FHL INTL book 943.9 E5d vol.1-2; FHL INTL film 599564 item 3 (vol. 1) and FHL INTL film 973041 (vol. 2); FHL INTL fiche 6000840).

1''' is an index that lists all place names in alphabetical order, followed by the name of the historical county and a set of numbers. These numbers refer to the gazetteer entry in Volume 2. The first number is the sequential number of the county (hung. megye, ger. comitat), the second is the consecutive number of the district (hung. járás, ger. bezirk), the last is the number of the locality. The numbers are followed by the location of the post office or by the various symbols. Many place names listed in the index are followed by "=" or "v". These are "see" references and refer you to another version of the place name. Other place names are followed by " ". This indicates a farmstead (p. or puszta), settlement (t. or telep), mill (m. or malom), or other small settlement and refers you to the larger locality it belongs to.

Volume 2 gives specific information about the locality. It is arranged by county and districts. Use the numbers from the index in Volume 1 to find the entry for your town. Counties are numbered at the heads of the pages. Additional names the locality was known by are listed in parentheses. The names of farmsteads, settlements and mills that belong to the locality are sometimes listed within the brackets. Population figures follow according to religion. The following abbreviations are used:

If the village had its own parish church or synagogue, the abbreviation for the religion will be in BOLDFACE capital letters followed by the diocese, also in Boldface type. If the people attended church elsewhere, the abbreviation of the religion will be in lowercase. The location of the parish or synagogue follows the population figure. If "-" follows the population figure, it means that the specific parish was not known.

Both volumes are available online via FamilySearch Books: Volume 1, Volume 2 Also available on-line at http://www.iabsi.com/gen/public/dvorzsak_gazetteer.htm.

Magyarország geographiai szótára mellyben minden város, falu és puszta körülményesen leiratik
Fényes, Elek. Magyarország geographiai szótára mellyben minden város, falu és puszta körülményesen leiratik. (Gazetteer of Hungary, 1851). Pest: Kozma Vazul Ny., 1851. (FHL INTL book 943.9 E5f v.1-2; FHL INTL film 844956 Items 1-2). Volume 1: A-E, volume 2: F-K, volume 3: L-R, volume 4: S-Z.

Arrangement: The arrangement is alphabetical by the name of the smallest administrative unit (town, parish, village etc.). This gazetteer contains the places of the old Hungarian Kingdom as it existed prior to 1919. The gazetteer was published in 1851, so one must be aware that words presently spelled with "c" then spelled "cz", and would be found alphabetically in the "cz" part of the gazetteer.

How to find a place: Although all towns are listed alphabetically, towns with adjectives modifying the name of the town will be found under the name of the town instead of the adjective. For example, a town with Kis is not filed under "k", but under the name of the town itself. Other adjectives which appear commonly are: Nagy (large), 0 (old), Uj (new), Alsó (lower), Felső (upper). Exception: Town names using the word Szent (Saint) are alphabetized in the "s".

Special features or uses: The information given is very complete. Since the gazetteer is in journal form, the arrangement of information within an entry may vary. Basically the following information will be given: Nationality of the population, name of the county (as it existed in old Hungarian Kingdom), number of inhabitants, size and type of surrounding farmlands, nearest post office, how far from large towns, names of Landlords, and for larger places a short history. Many of the towns described are no longer in Hungary because of numerous border changes.

Example of a typical entry: Barancs, orosz-magyar-tót fa- lu, Zemplén vgyében, Bodzás-Ujlak- hoz közel: 198 r., 152 g. kath., 36 ref., 102 zsidó lak. Kath. paroch. temp- lom. 886 hold termékeny szántó- föld; szőlőt is mivel. F. u. Barkóczy, Klobusiczky, Boka, Unghváry, Kulin, Szikszay, s m. Ut. p. Velejte.

Translation: Barancs, Russian-Hungarian-Slovak village in Zemplén couty close to Bodzás-Ujlak, with 198 Roman Catholics, 152 Greek Catholics, 36 Protestants (Reformed) and 102 Jews. There is a Catholic parish. 886 "hold" (1 hold is 1.42 acres) arable land, and vinyards, Landlords: Barkóczy, Klobusiczky, Boka, Unghváry, Kulin, Szikszay and others. Nearest post office is in Velejte.

List of Abbreviations and Symbols Used:

Currently (2018) available online on Arcanum: https://www.arcanum.hu/hu/online-kiadvanyok/Lexikonok-magyarorszag-geografiai-szotara-fenyes-elek-BABC3/

The Official Gazetteers
The National Hungarian Royal Statistics Office (Országos Magyar Királyi Statistikai Hivatal) published official gazetters every few years in the late 1800s and early 1900s. They varied somewhat in content and arrangement; some were essentially just simplified reprints of a previous edition, while others were comprehensive census publications.

The Library of the Central Statistics Office (KSH Könyvtár) has digitized versions of the official 1873, 1877, 1882, 1888, 1892, 1895, 1898, 1900, 1902, and 1907 gazetteers (A Magyar Korona országainak helységnévtára), as well as a downloadable PDF of the 1913 gazetteer (A Magyar Szent Korona országainak helységnévtára):

http://konyvtar.ksh.hu/index.php?s=kb_statisztika#kb_statisztika_helysegnevtarak

Unfortunately, the digital versions were webbed using very old-style HTML; the navigation only ever really worked in old versions of Internet Explorer. Luckily the alphabetical index (betűrend szerinti helységnévmutató) does work, so the main content can be accessed, but things like the lists of abbreviations and symbols cannot.

Some of these gazetteers are also online on Hungaricana, although they're not handily linked from one place. Here's the list of abbreviations and symbols for the 1892 edition:

https://library.hungaricana.hu/hu/view/NEDA_1892_helysegnevtar/?pg=4&layout=s

Note: the official 1877 gazetteer is not the same thing as the Dvorzsák gazetteer, despite the matching date. Like the others in the series, the official 1877 gazetteer is arranged in one alphabetical list, not divided up by county.

The official gazetteers give similar information to Dvorzsák, with the exception of population numbers; Dvorzsák breaks them down by religion, while the official ones only give a total. They also give more detail about infrastructure and utilities, such as telegraph and post offices, and about administration, such as courthouses and tax offices.

Places in Hungary
Bánát, Hungary was a crownland (royal domain) of Austria 1849-1860, otherwise Hungarian 1779-1919, and is now part of Romania, Serbia, and Hungary.

Online Resources

A good resource for online Hungarian gazetteers can be found on the Slovakia Genealogy Research Strategies site here.