All posts in Norwegian Genealogy Research

How to use Norwegian church records: the Lutheran kirkeboker of baptisms, confirmations, marriages and burials, why confirmation records are so useful, and how to trace a family through them.

How to use Norwegian census records: the national folketellinger of 1801, 1865, 1875, 1900 and 1910, what they contain, and how they place your family on a specific farm.

How to use Digitalarkivet, Norway’s free Digital Archives: what it holds—censuses, church books, probate and emigration records—and how to search and browse to find your family.

What a Norwegian bygdebok is and why it’s a genealogical treasure: local farm-and-family history books that trace the families of each farm across generations, and how to find and use them.

Can’t find your Norwegian records? You need the farm and parish first. The best sources for finding them: the farm name your emigrant carried, emigration records, and documents abroad.

Understanding Norwegian naming for genealogy: the patronymic system (-sen, -datter), the farm names that changed when a family moved, and how to trace ancestors whose names shift.

How to use Norwegian probate records: the skifter that divided estates and named all the heirs, why they’re superb for confirming family groups, and how to find and use them.

A practical guide to reading old Norwegian genealogy records: the Gothic handwriting, the Danish language of the records, old spelling, key terms, and how to build the skill.

Stuck on your Norwegian family tree? Solutions for the most common brick walls: unknown farm, the changing farm name, common patronymics, record gaps, and same-named farms.