Starting Research in Norway

Back to Norway

Norway Church Records Christening
Introduction

Step 1. Find the year of your ancestor's christening or baptism record. Step 2. Find the entry for your ancestor. Step 3. Find the entries for each brother and sister of your ancestor. Step 4. Copy the information, and document your sources. Step 5. Analyze the information you obtain from the christening record. Beginning about 1500, but usually much later, churches required their clergy to keep christening (or baptism) records. Before 1814, the records should at least contain the christening date, the father's first name, the child's name, and generally the residence. The birth date, mother's name, and names of christening witnesses are sometimes given. A printed record format was introduced in 1814, which included columns for both parents' names, birth date, christening date, place of residence, names of witnesses, and other information.

For more information on church christening records, see Description.

Description
The earliest Norwegian church records date from 1623, though information about individual ministers may date to the 1500s. Most christening records began in the late 1600s after King Christian's law of 1686, which made the registration of christenings mandatory for all of Norway. At this time a separate copy of the parish registers were kept by the church warden/sexton. The priest and the church warden woould get together at the end of the year and compare their books. If one parish register is difficult to read make sure you check the copy since the handwriting could be much better in the copy!

What You Are Looking For
The following information may be found in a christening entry:

The name of your ancestor.


 * The date of your ancestor's christening or baptism.
 * The names of your ancestor's parents.
 * The names of the witnesses or godparents.
 * The date of your ancestor's birth.
 * The place of your ancestor's birth.
 * The residence of the parents.
 * The occupation of the father.
 * Whether your ancestor was of legitimate or illegitimate birth.

Steps
 These 5 steps will guide you in finding your ancestor in Norwegian church records.

Step 1. Find the year of your ancestor's christening or baptism record.

Before you can search for your Norwegian ancestor's christening record, you need to know the appoximate year they were born, and where they were born.

If you have the name of a place in Norway, but don't know if it is a parish (record keeping jurisdiction), see the Norwegian Gazetteer  or. Instructions for using these gazetteers are found in How to Use the Norwegian gazetteer.

If you do not know the place of birth, see Norway Emigration and Immigration / How to Find the Ancestor's Town of Origin.

To find the christening records available at the library, look in the Family History Library Catalog. Go to What to Do Next, select the Family History Library Catalog, and click on the tab for Town Records to see if your ancestor's parish is listed.

When looking for your ancestor's christening or baptism record, remember:


 * Christening records are arranged chronologically.
 * Christening records before 1814 may be intermixed with marriage or burial records.
 * Christening records of iIlegitimate children may be listed separately. For help in finding the year and place, see Tip 1.

Step 2. Find the entry for your ancestor.

Look for a child with the right given name and birth date in the records of the town you identified in step 1. Then see if his or her father's given name matches the child's patronymic name. For example, Ole Andersen's fathers' first name is "Anders" or "Andreas." If more than one entry within a few years fits your information, you may have to check further to make sure you have the correct entry. Remember, in Norway, the surname of the child reflects the first name of the natural father, so look for that first name if the record is so arranged.

Norwegian christening records are in chronological order by the christening date, even if the birth date is listed. A child could be christened the same day as, or up to two years after, the actual birth date.

Identify all possibilities that fit your information. If your ancestor was Lars Pedersen, born in1852 according to his age later in life, find all the Lars Pedersens, born 1850 to1855 in the town your ancestor was from.

Check this town's death records beginning with the birth date of the first possible ancestor to see if any of the possible ancestors died young. If any are found in the death records, you can eliminate those possibilities.

If you have narrowed the possibilities down to one, then you must follow that person through subsequent life events such as confirmation, moves, and marriage, to make sure they turn into "your" ancestor.

For more help in finding the record entry, see Tip 2.

For help in reading the record entry, see Tip 3.

For help in verifying that you have the correct record entry, see Tip 5.

Step 3. Find the entries for each brother and sister of your ancestor.

Once you have the entry for your ancestor, find the entries for your ancestor's brothers and sisters:

Search the christening records for entries of your ancestor's brothers and sisters. Search local death records or the christening records from surrounding parishes, especially if there are gaps of 3 or more years between the christening of siblings. Gaps of 3 or more years may indicate there was another child. To make sure you have found entries of all the family members, search death and christening records of surrounding parishes for any additional children. Search for children born before the parents' marriage. Often the father's name is given.

For help in finding the entries for the ancestor's brothers and sisters, see Tip 4.

Step 4. Copy the information, and document your sources.

If you can, photocopy the record. If you can't, be sure to copy all the information in the entry, including:

All the people listed and all information given about them. (Remember, witnesses are often relatives.) All the dates in the entry and the events they pertain to. (Sometimes birth, marriage, and death information pertaining to the child or parents may be included. The minister may have used symbols such as * for birth, oo for marriage, and + for death.) Be sure to look for additional dates in the entry's margin. All the localities in the entry and who was from the places listed.

On the copy, document the source of the information. List:

The type of source (paper certificate, microform, book, Internet site, etc.). All reference numbers for the source. Carefully record any microfilm, book, or certificate numbers or the name and Internet address of the site you used.

Step 5. Analyze the information you obtain from the christening record.

To effectively use the information obtained from the christening record, ask yourself the following questions:

Is this the christening entry of my direct line ancestor? Because names are so common, you must be sure you have the correct record.

Did the minister identify both parents, and is the mother's maiden name given? Were additional event dates, such as marriage, death, and introduction of the mother, etc., given in the entry's margin? (The minister may have used symbols such as * for birth, oo for marriage, and + for death.) Did more than 2 to 3 years pass since the christening of the last child? If so, another child may have been born and christened in a neighboring parish or born and died before being christened. Did you search 5 years without finding any earlier christening entries of children? If you find no other entries, begin looking for the parents' marriage record.

For help in verifying that you have the correct record entry, see Tip 5.

Tip 1. How do I find the year my ancestor was christened?
Any record listing an age in connection with the ancestor could be used to calculate a birth or christening year. These could include U.S. records such as death records, passenger lists, censuses, marriage license applications, and so forth. Norwegian records, such as confirmations, marriages, deaths, moving lists, and censuses, would also contain an age.

Try to find the family in a census. Census records list everyone living in a household at a given time and may include parents, grandparents, and children. They also give ages for each person, from which you can calculate an approximate birth year. The 1865 census of Norway and all subsequent censuses also list the birth place for each person.

To find Norwegian census records in the Family History Library Catalog, search under the name of the parish where the family was living, and look under the subject heading "Census."

For more information on determining places of origin, see Norway Emigration and Immigration / How to Find the Ancestor's Town of Origin.

Tip 2. How do I find the entry for my ancestor?
Look for the child's first name and the father's first name. Remember the record keeper spelled the name the way he thought it should be spelled. Karl with K, and Carl with C, is still Carl. The person's name may have been spelled one way in the christening, another way in the confirmation, another way in the marriage, and yet another way in the death record. Many names are interchangable; Jon, Johan, Johannes; Ole, Ola, Olav, Oluf, Olaves, etc. Olaug, Oloug; Knut, knud, Kanut, Canute, etc

Find birth entries for all of the other children of the parents identified as possibilities. Look for subsequent death or marriage records for these other children.

Compare the names of the parents and siblings of each of the remaining possibilities with the names of your ancestor's children. Often the ancestor will name his or her children the same as his or her parents or siblings. This may help you determine which of the possibilities found is your ancestor.

Look at your ancestor's marriage record to see who the witnesses were, and look at his or her children's birth records to see who the godparents and witnesses were. Often siblings, parents, and in-laws will be listed. If you can determine that some of the witnesses to his or her marriage or children's christenings are the same people as the siblings in one of the possible ancestral families, this can prove you have found the right ancestor. You can eliminate the other leads and continue researching the correct family.

If you are searching records which do not have a preprinted, "fill in the blank" format, look for the pattern used by the record keeper.

The child's name may be more clearly written than other information in the entry, or it may be underlined, enlarged, or written to one side of the page. The father's name may be listed first, underlined, enlarged, indented, or outdented.

Eliminate entries that contradict what you know about your ancestor. Check death records to see if any of the children died before your ancestor did. Check marriage records to see if any of the children married someone other than your ancestor's spouse (but remember that your ancestor may have married more than once). Try to make sure the christening entry is of your direct line ancestor. Because names are so common, you must be sure you have the correct entry.

For help with name variations, see Norway Names Personal.

Tip 3. What if I can't read the record?
Norwegian church records are usually written in the Norwegian language and include some Latin terms and phrases. The language used in the record may also be affected by:

The language of bordering countries. Bergen had a big group of German merchants living in the city. Some of the parish registers are written in German. The parishioners of Maria kirken were heavily German.

Also, prior to the 1900s, records were written in a form of Gothic script.

For publications that can help you read the languages and Gothic script, see Norway Word List, Latin Genealogical Word List, and Germany Handwriting.

Tip 4. How do I find the record for each brother and sister?
Remember, within the family, one or more children may have the same given name(s).

When more than one set of parents has the same given names and surnames (for example, two couples with the names Lars Jensen and Maria Pedersdatter), use the following identifiers and records to separate the families:

The place of residence of the family. The father's occupation. The witnesses or godparents. Other sources like census and probate records that list family members as a group.

Tip 5. How do I verify the christening of my direct-line ancestor?
Because of the patronymic naming system, more than one family in a parish could have the same family name. Because the same children's given names are used in every family, several children with the same given and family names could have been christened within a few years of each other. To identify the correct direct-line ancestor and his or her parents:

Check 5 years on each side of the supposed christening year, and copy the entry of every child with the same given name(s) and patronymic surname as the ancestor. If one or more entries exist, check church burial records to eliminate those entries of children that died before your ancestor. If burial records do not exist or you are not able to eliminate all of the possible entries, check marriage records to eliminate those who married someone other than your ancestor's spouse. If you still cannot eliminate 2 or more possibilities, find the families in the nearest available census, then the next. Also, find the possible ancestors in confirmation records, and see if the listed vaccination dates help eliminate one of the possibilities. If you eliminate all the possibilities, check the surrounding parishes and repeat the above process until you find the christening entry for your ancestor.

Norway Church Records
The Lutheran church records are the primary source for genealogical research in Norway. Church records (kirkebøker) provides excellent information on names, dates, and places of births, marriages and deaths. Almost everyone who lived in Norway was recorded in a church record.

Records of births, marriages, and deaths are commonly called Vital records because critical events in a person's life are recorded in them. Church records are vital records made by the pastor or his assistant. They are often referred to as parish registers or church books and include records of christenings, marriages, and burials. In addition, church records may include lists of members, confimations, marriage banns, and accounts of people moving in and out of the parish.

Church records are crucial for Norwegian research. The Evangelical Lutheran church became the state chruch (Statskirken), or national church (Den Norske Kirke, lit. The Norwegian Church), after the Reformation in 1536. As such, it is an arm of the national government. The church keeps the vital records for the government.

General Historical Background
Christianity came to Norway during the 11th century through the kings Olaf Tryggvason and Olaf II Haraldsson. The church was not orgainized nationally, however, until 1152 to 1153 in the form of the Catholic church. The church was organized with an archbishop in Nidaros (now Trondheim), with ten bishop seats under him: four in Norway, two in Iceland, one in Greenland, one in the Faeroe Island, one in the Orkney Island, and one in the Hebrides Islands and Isle of Man.

From the time of the Reformation in 1536, Norway became a Lutheran nation. From then until 1843 it was against the law to practice the Roman Catholic religion in Norway. Notable exceptions include Catholic congregations in Fredrikstad (since 1682), Kristiansand (since 1686), and Oslo (Kristiania) (since 1843). A few Quakers were also allowed to live near Stavanger in 1826, provided that they did not move out of the area.

The Norwegian government recorgnized only the state church prior to 1845, when it became legal to organize churches of other denominations. St. Olav's Catholic congregation in Oslo was organized that year. Its church building was completed in 1856, the same year Catholic missionary work was started in Northern Norway, with Alta as its seat. This work, also called the North Pole Mission (Nordpolmisjon), was abolished in 1869, and resumed its seat in Oslo.

There are no church records from the pre-Reformation times in Norway. Therefore, the earliest church records available are the Lutheran church records.

At a Congress of Deans held in April 1668, a resolution was adopted to introduce keeping parish records in Norway. However, it was not until 1688 that record keeping was required by law. Some pastors began keeping records much earlier. The earliest parish records dates from 1623. Church records for the state church are available in most areas beginning about 1700.

In 1845 the Nonconformist Act recognized Chrisian dissenter churches: however, the act required that everyone from all denominations notify the pastor or their local Lutheran parish of all births and marriages. The Nonconformist Act did not apply to Jews until 1851, when a constitutional provision repealed the exclusion. Few Norwegians belong to nonconformist religions. in 1989 only six percent of the population listed their religion as other than Lutheran.

A uniform system for keeping church records was introduced by royal ordinace in December 1812. The use of a standard form began during the winter of 1814. This form was replaced by a new one in 1820 and another in 1870. The form adopted in 1870 is basically the same one still in use today.

Because of concerns over the possible destruction of church books by fire or loss, the Ordinance of 1812 required that a duplicate register be kept in a separate place. These records, called Klokkerbøker (clerk books), were kept by the parish clerk. The clerk books are disignated as such in the Family History Library Catalog by the use of "kl" to the left of the volume and time period of the records.

Information Recorded in Church Records
At first the record-keeping requirement was limited to baptims, marriages, and burials. Confirmation registers of many parishes date from as early as 1736. Until a standard form was established in 1814, no directions were given on how to keep church records, so the records before that date vary greatly.

Norway Church Records Baptisms (Døpte)
Prior to 1814, usually only the date of christening was listed. Children were generally christened within a few days of birth. Christening registers usually give the name of the infant and father and the place of residence. In some cases the mother's name is listed, and often the names of godparents and withnesses were recorded. You may also find the child's birth date and the father's occupation in the baptismal records. Baptism records may also include records of stillbirths.

The spelling of a name was determined by the recorder, so many variations resulted. For example, the given name Sivert might be spelled as Syver, Sjur, Siver, Sifuer, or Siffuer.

After 1814 a standardized form was generally used in recording the event. On this form was listed both the birth and christening date, borth parents' names and place of residence, the child's legitimate or illegitimate status, and the names of godparents and witnesses. In larger cities, street addresses were also listed.

Norway Church Records Confirmation
(Konfirmasjon)

Although a person's first communion was important, berfore 1736 little formal religious instruction was given regarding it. However, in that year the Lutheran state church requiered that young people be instructed in catechism and pass a test before taking the first communion. This test and the first communion was called confirmation. No one was permitted to marry in the Lutheran church unless he or she was confirmed.

Confirmation usually took place when a young person was between the ages of 14 to 20 years old. The canditate was usually nearer 19 years of age in the period close to 1736 and 14 to 16 years of age later. In pre-1815 confirmation records the age and place of residence were often recorded. After 1814 the name of the head of household where the youth lived, the age, birth and/or baptism date, and the place of residence and birth were listed. Since the 1830s the parents' names were also listed.

Norway Church Records Marriages (Viede, Copulerede)
Marriage registers give the bride's and groom's names, marriage date, and sometines their place(s) of residence. Usually the record also indicates whether the bride and groom were single or widowed before marriage and gives the names of bondsmen (two men who knew that the bride and groom were eligible to be married; in later records these were often the fathers of the bride and groom). Sometimes a separate record of a couple's engagement (trolovelse) appears in the earlier records.

Records after 1814 often include other information about the bride and groom, such as their ages, place of residence, and occupations. After the 1830s the records also include the names of their fathers and birthplaces.

Marriage registers sometimes give tthe date of the engagement and the three dates on which the marriage intentions were announced. These announcements, called banns or Lysning, allowed anyone who knew of any reason why the couple should not marry to come forward.

Couples were usuallly married in the bride's home parish. Typically, the bride and groom were in their twenties when they married.

Norway Church Records burials (Begravede)
Burials were recorded in the parish where the person lwas buried. The burial usually took place in the parish were the person died, one to two weeks after the death occurred. In the wintertime the actual time between death and burial could have been weeks of even months.

Burial registers list the name of the deceased and the date and place of burial. After 1814 the deceased person's age, place of residence, and occupation were listed. For young children the name of the child's father is usually given.

Burial records may exist for individuals who were born before birth records and marriage records were kept. Stillbirths were usually recorded in church burial registers.

Norway Church Records Marriage 1814 - Present
Introduction

What You Are Looking For

Step 1. Find the year of your ancestor's marriage record. Step 2. Find the entry for your ancestor. Step 3. Copy the information, and document your sources. Step 4. Analyze the information you obtain from the marriage record.

Beginning about 1500, but usually much later, churches required their clergy to keep marriage records (or marriage banns). Before 1814, the records should at least contain the marriage date, the name of the bride and groom, and generally the residence. The names of witnesses are sometimes given.

For more information on church marriage records, see Background.

Background
Norway, Church Record Marriage 1500-1813  The earliest Norwegian church records date from 1624, though information about individual ministers may date to the 1500s. Most marriage records began in the late 1600s after King Christian's law of 1686, which made the registration of marriage mandatory for all of Norway.

What You Are looking For
The following information may be found in a marriage entry:


 * The names of your ancestors.
 * The date of your ancestors' marriage.
 * The names of the witnesses, who could be the respective fathers.
 * Where the bride and groom were residing when married.
 * The date of the marriage proclamations or banns.
 * The occupation or civil status of your ancestors, such as farmer, farm hand,
 * never married, widow or widower, bachelor.

Steps
These 4 steps will guide you in finding your ancestor in Norwegian church records.

Step 1. Find the year of your ancestor's marriage record.

Before you can search for your Norwegian ancestors' marriage record, you need to know the approximate year they were married and where they were married.

If you have the name of a place in Norway but don't know if it is a parish (record keeping jurisdiction), see the Norwegian Gazetteer or. Instructions for using this gazetteer are found in How to Use the Norwegian gazetteer.

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Norwegian Mission
Annual genealogical report, Form E, 1907-1951

1907 Norwegian Mission: Bergen Conference Kristiania Conference Trondhjem Conference FHL International Film 123198 Item 1 1908-1918 Scandinavian Mission: Norwegian Mission Danish Mission Swedish Mission (a few records) FHL International Film 123198 Items 2-12 1920 Norwegian Mission Bergen Conference Kristiania Conference Trondhjem Conference. Samoan Mission Savaii Conference, Palauli Branch. FHL International Film 123198 Item 13 1921 Norwegian Mission Bergen Conference Kristiania Conference Trondhjem Conference FHL International Film 123198 Item 14 1922 Kristiania Conference Includes all branches in Norway FHL International Film 123198 Item 15 1923-1924 Bergen Conference Kristiania Conference Trondhjem Conference FHL International Film 123198 Items 16-17 1925 Bergen Conference Oslo Conference (formerly Kristiania Conference) Trondhjem Conference FHL International Film 123198 Item 18 1926-1931 Bergen Conference Oslo Conference Trondhjem Conference FHL International Film 123198 Items 19-23 1931 Bergen Conference Oslo Conference Trondheim Conference (formerly spelled Trondhjem) FHL International Film 123198 Item 24 1932-1933 Bergen Conference Olso Conference Trondheim Conference FHL International Film 123198 Items 25-26 1934 Bergen Conference Trondheim Conference FHL International Film 123198 Item 27 1936 Bergen Conference Oslo Conference Trondheim Conference FHL International Film 123198 Item 28 1935 Bergen Conference Oslo Conference Trondheim Conference FHL International Film 123198 Item 29 1936-1939 Bergen Conference Oslo Conference Trondheim Conference. NO REPORTS TO 1946. FHL International Film 123198 Items 30-33 1947 Bergen Conference Oslo Conference Trondheim Conference. Palestine-Syrian Mission Aleppo Branch FHL International Film 123198 Item 34 1949-1950 Bergen Conference Oslo Conference Trondheim Conference FHL International Film 123198 Items 35-36 1951 Bergen Conference Oslo Conference Trondheim Conference

Film 123198 Item 37