How to find out about your family by last name. How to independently find out the pedigree, genealogical tree of your family by last name: archival data, search on the Internet, on TV shows. Ways to search for ancestors and relatives by last name: description. Where to start searching

Natalya Kaptsova


Reading time: 9 minutes

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Any person has ever thought about the origin of his family. The issue of creating a pedigree is decided individually. However, many believe that those who respect and honor their ancestors live much longer. Also, for religious reasons, people are trying to find out more about relatives and determine whether it is necessary to repent before God for their sins in order to improve their lives. An important role is played by the factor of health or genetic predispositions to diseases.

Types of pedigrees, ideas for a pedigree tree

There are two main types of pedigrees: ascending and descending.

  1. First starts building from you and moves on to information about your distant relatives. As a rule, then comes the father, grandfather, great-grandfather, etc.
  2. Head of the second kind is the oldest founder, and then all his descendants are listed, including you. Such a pedigree helps to take a broad look at the genus, its activities over many times.

There are other types of pedigrees:

  • Male ascendant. Usually it includes only males. It will look like a line. Such a pedigree helps to establish a connection with a historical figure or famous person of the past.
  • Mixed ascending. Here you can specify both men and women. Persons of different genera, different surnames are presented in geometric progression - first 2, then 4, then 8, 16, etc.
  • Descending male. An ancestor is chosen and strings are “stretched” from him to the youngest man of this kind.
  • Mixed descending. Both men and women can also indicate. This species covers several genera and surnames.

According to the type of design, a pedigree can take several forms:

You can choose any species you like and create your own individual pedigree. The most popular is the family tree. It is drawn up not only on paper, but also on the walls of a room at home.

How to find out the pedigree of your family - step by step instructions

To quickly draw up a pedigree, you should follow the instructions:

  • Conduct a survey. Ask relatives and acquaintances, neighbors who know your family about places of residence, class affiliation, places of work, study of ancestors. Perhaps they will remember the appearance (if there is no photo), character, habits, etc. The value of conducting a survey is obvious. You will learn about initials, dates of birth, death, but at the same time you will understand what kind of person your great-grandfather was.
    Polls are best conducted with a voice recorder. You can not write down everything after listening to the story.
  • Explore family records. Photos, diaries, letters, and even notes can point you to relatives you didn't know about. All papers can help you determine who your ancestors were by profession, how they lived, at what time.
  • Make an approximate family tree, table , distributing the information received into two branches or columns - the maternal and paternal lines. Enter all dates of birth, initials.
  • Examine the directories located in the archive state fund. Information about your archive is here: rusarchives.ru. The documents located in the archive will help you determine the class to which your relatives belonged, the position held. You will also find out if the ancestor was awarded, if he had an honorary title. In addition, in the fund you can find new information in the form of audio or video recordings, photographs.
    To apply to the fund, you must have permission from the municipality, it is the administration that must send you to a specific archive - first the regional, then the federal.
  • Contact the library in your area . They usually provide search literature, archival documents, newspapers and other information and reference publications.
  • Visit local museums they may contain new information about your relatives.
  • Contact archivists, search engines, bibliographers, historians.

Building a family tree is hard work. It takes a lot of time and effort. You can contact to a private organization who will do all the research for you.

Don't forget there is non-state archival funds , dealing specifically with the collection of information and information about people of the past. In such companies, for a fee, they can also help you find any data.

Useful programs, websites and books for compiling a pedigree - can it be done online?

We list the sites that will help with the compilation, design of the family tree:

  1. All-Russian genealogical tree (VGD). It has its own collection of information about people of the past living in Russia. There are also articles to help you search. Website: www.vgd.ru
  2. Genealogia.ru- includes historical data and information about Russia. There is also a program on the site that can help you arrange your pedigree.
  3. Center for Genealogical Research (CGI) . This site - rosgenea.ru - has created a unique collection of documents, directories, lists of records by service, land ownership, registration, chronology, estates, geographical indicators. Communication takes place on the forum, where registered users will be able to suggest something new to you.
  4. Official site of the Russian Nobility Assembly (RDS). This non-political organization has 70 regional unions, which store information about the descendants of Russian noble families. Website: www.nobility.ru
  5. In the so-called family social network - familyspace.ru - you can not only find lost relatives, but also communicate with people who may have known your ancestors. The site contains electronic city and military directories that help in creating an online pedigree.
  6. A similar social network project is genway.ru. You can get acquainted with historical facts, determine the meaning of a surname, chat with friends who might know relatives, and also create your own tree online.

And here are some free programs that help design and compile pedigrees:

  • The Tree of Life - genery.com. You can create a tree, calculate the degree of relationship, save data, photos, videos and other information about the life and activities of relatives.
  • family chronicle - drawing up a pedigree is very colorful in the form of a tree. It is possible to save photos and other documents. Website: the-family-chronicle.com
  • GenoPro - creation of a pedigree in a graphical, tabular form. Website: www.genopro.com
  • Family Tree Build - creating your own family site, a pedigree tablet. Website: www.myheritage.com

The following libraries may help:

  1. russian-family.ru
  2. petergen.com
  3. bookfund.ru

The main books that will guide you on the right path will help with the search, determining the class origin of the clan, surnames:

  • Reference manual entitled "Genealogical information in the state archives of Russia".
  • "Practical recommendations for compiling peasant pedigrees” Petrichenko M.B.
  • Publication "Research of genealogical information in the state archives of Russia" Romanova S.N., "Bulletin of the archivist" No. 5 (41) 1997.
  • Publication of the same author Romanova: "How to find your roots" in the "Herald of the Archivist" for 1998, No. 2 (44), No. 3 (45).
  • Practical manual "Your family tree" Onuchin A.N.
  • Publication "Metric books: time to collect stones", Antonov D.N., "Domestic Archives" 1996, No. 4, No. 5.
  • “Methodological guide for conducting genealogical research. Fundamentals of genealogical culture "Kochevykh S.V.

Are you involved in compiling the pedigree of your family? We will be grateful for your feedback!

Probably everyone thought about how to find out their ancestry by last name. Most often we know the names and surnames of our grandfathers and grandmothers. And we know absolutely nothing about the older generation. The difficulty lies in the fact that the archives are closed for ordinary users, the services of compilers are not cheap.

However, something can still be found. Today we will talk about various services that will help restore at least part of the pedigree and family history.

At first, you can look for information about your last name or Such dictionaries can be found on the shelves of bookstores. Or refer to online dictionaries. The only difference is that not complete dictionaries are posted on the network. And some surnames may simply not be there.

You will find information in dictionaries like the following: Elizarovs - Russian noble families. The first of them descended from the Tatar prince Egul, in baptism Vasily, who served Vasily the Dark against Shemyaka. He had a son, Elizar, whose descendants adopted the surname of the Elizarovs. Of these, Fedor Kuzmich, under Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, was a duma clerk, duma nobleman and okolnich, and in 1658 he was in charge of the local order; his brother Prokofy was in charge of the zemstvo order.

This kind of Elizarovs, apparently, stopped. Two other families of Elizarov date back to the 17th century. and included in the VI part of the genealogical books of the Kostroma and Novgorod provinces.

It is clear that this information will not help you find out your personal ancestry, but will indicate where to go next. In these dictionaries, you can get information about the region of origin of the surname, which means that you will figure out which archive to contact in the future.

In dictionaries, you can get information about the region of origin of the surname

Metric information from about 1790 to 1919 is stored in the state archives of regions, territories, republics and districts of the Russian Federation. In separate archives, parish registers have been preserved since 1703, the information needs to be clarified.

The archives are searched on a commercial basis. And anyone can request information about their pedigree directly.

The cost of compiling a family tree along one line in the archive of the Sverdlovsk region is 50 thousand rubles!

The main sources of data are registers of births of church parishes, revision tales, and confessional murals. As well as other sources with lists of names and surnames of local residents, genealogical books of the nobility in the provinces.

The order of prices for compiling archival certificates in the State Archive of the Sverdlovsk Region for April 2016 is as follows:

  • According to the documents of the 18th century 1 archival reference 2 350.00
  • According to the documents of the 19th century 1 archival reference 2 150.00
  • Based on documents of the 20th century 1 archival reference 1,950.00

Viewing registers of births in order to identify documents (records) for genealogical queries:

  • Registers of births of the 18th century for 1 year 890.00
  • Registers of births of the 19th century for 1 year 590.00
  • Registers of births of the twentieth century for 1 year 490.00

You can make a request to compile a family tree (painting one line of kinship) - the cost is 50 thousand rubles.

Information about your relatives can also be found in various electronic document banks.

There are entire resources where information about the dead, missing, award documents, lists of mass graves is published. You can even find

On the website of the Central Archive of the Ministry of Defense there is where you can find curious facts that the grandchildren and great-grandchildren of those who fought might not have known. For example, on the map, track the coordinates of the military path of the grandfather or great-grandfather, if there were injuries, see which hospital was treated and much more. Here is another one created by the Central Archive of the Ministry of Defense, where you can find information about those who fought in the Great Patriotic War.

Also on the Internet you can find lists of soldiers who went missing and were found recently, which will also help restore the history of the family. Information can be found here or here. At the same time, work is constantly underway and the data is updated. So, for example, on the second site, the last update was carried out on March 29, 2016.

« Never call a spade a spade if you don't know their last names.».
Stanislav Jerzy Lec

What is the meaning of surnames

The value of a person's surname is difficult to overestimate. From the moment the child crosses the threshold of the school, he ceases to be just Petya, Natasha or Dima, but also becomes Zaitsev, Romanova, Belov. With this important "increase" it is as if our growing up begins. With the exception of close relatives, friends and acquaintances, we distinguish people primarily by their surnames. The surname helps to make the first impression of a person - for example, with a high probability of hitting, guess his nationality. Knowing what a surname means, you can learn a lot about an ancestor, an ancestor. Where did he live, what did he do, was he tall or small, noisy or quiet. The roots of surnames lie in the personal names or nicknames of people, their professions, the names of places that existed at the time when surnames began to form. On the territory of Russia, this process became widespread in the 16th century, and was fully completed only at the beginning of the 20th century.

What does your last name mean?

Interestingly, the interpretation of surnames very often comes as a complete surprise to their owners. So, sonorous, similar to an artistic pseudonym, the names of Emeralds and Tulips were given not to a jeweler and gardener, but, most likely, to students of a church school or seminary. Surnames with a meaning associated with the names of animals and birds, as a rule, are among the most ancient. They were formed in those days when, along with personal names, there were also nicknames - Crow, Bear, Pig. Many surnames come from nicknames-amulets that drive away evil spirits. Fool parents often called their child with the hope that he will grow up smart, Anger - kind. So, the ancestors of the Durakovs were not at all fools, and the Zlobins were gloomy and embittered. By the way, the well-known surname Nekrasov also originates from the nickname Nekras, that is, the expectation that the child will grow up beautiful, handsome. So, you should not be complex because of the "dissonant" surnames, all the more so to form a negative opinion about the owners on them.
Of course, it is not always possible to determine with absolute certainty what meaning of the surname was originally true. Some surnames were born from distorted foreign borrowings, others from words that can no longer be found in modern dictionaries. However, interest in one's surname makes one learn more about one's ancestors, which means touching the history of one's family.

Surname Numerology

Finally, the numerological analysis of the surname can tell about a certain general mood of the family, hereditary abilities, potential "family" opportunities for success or failure, about the methods of communication with the outside world developed by the generations of one "dynasty". Each representative of the surname at the same time strengthens it with its own energy and receives support from it. It is no coincidence that people's fate changes dramatically when they change their surname.
Free online last name analysis will help you get closer to the secrets that you may not have suspected.

The meaning of surnames by nationality

Below is a list of nationalities, by going to the pages of which you can find out some details and the meaning of the surname, depending on the country in which they appeared.

The study of family history and the analysis of documents with information about ancestors is a laborious and specific process, but you should not be afraid of it, postponing the search for facts about the development of the genus until retirement age. If you do not understand how to approach the restoration of the pedigree, do not assume how to find your ancestors in the archives and find out the origin of the surname, then a review article from Livemem will help readers understand the nuances and choose the best solution. The preparation of the research plan is based on the initial data about the desired person, which the descendant possesses. Sometimes initial information is not enough to find ancestors from the distant past or meet relatives from the present. The fate of people is different, and the primary information about the origin of each is individual, which is why it is impossible to mention all the options. The authors of the publication will consider the question of how to find out their ancestors, having received authentic data from reliable sources, from the standpoint of two basic areas of search in archives - genealogical and military.

Based on the many years of experience of the active work of the family and military research bureau "Keepers of Family Secrets", readers' applications for the search for ancestors can be divided into two types: "I know that my relative served in ..." and "it is known that a grandmother or grandfather was born in...". In the first part of the article, we will consider the option of how to find ancestors in the archives by last name, if there is information about the person's involvement in the service. In our country, the records of military personnel are kept carefully, which means that in certain documents there are various references to the Red Army, officers of the Red Army, sailors, hussars, Cossacks, employees of special services and other departments or formations. If you look for materials about ancestors responsibly and with attention to detail, then there is a chance to comprehend the truth and reveal the innermost secret of the genealogy. With almost any initial data, military-historical research can be carried out, the only question is what set of measures is required to carry out an effective search for the ancestors of the family and how much working time it will take to find out your origin, as well as find archival information about the surnames present in the branches of the family . Let's move on to the details of this direction.

In our country, there are several federal and departmental archives, the funds and files of which help citizens conduct a military search for relatives. To understand how to know your origin and to find the ancestors of the family in such situations, it is required to clearly formulate the task, and, starting from it, apply to one or another institution. What are research applications? We present in this publication common options. When the reader is interested in the fate of the repressed or dispossessed ancestors of the clan, then it is necessary to contact the Central Archive of the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation (Central Archive of the Federal Security Service), some information about the origin can be found with the help of the territorial departments of the Ministry of Internal Affairs at the scene of the event. The main part of what concerns the fleet is located in the vaults of the RGA VMF (Russian State Archive of the Navy) in St. Petersburg. If the goal is to find your ancestors and facts about the missing, then study the site obd-memorial.ru, but since not all "paper" funds are duplicated by an electronic copy, some of the information can only be found in the Podolsky TsAMO RF (Central Archive of the Ministry of Defense) . Materials about the Great Patriotic War are stored there, and data on awards and merit can be found on the resource podvignaroda.mil.ru, but do not forget about the archive itself in Podolsk, where undigitized documents are located. It would not be superfluous to inform our visitors, who are planning to figure out how to search for their ancestors, about the pamyatnaroda.mil.ru portal, which is useful for finding information.

In which federal archives to look for reliable facts about the surname and where to find ancestors if their involvement in the service dates back to the period before the war between the USSR and Nazi Germany? It will be possible to answer this question correctly, knowing the time the relative was in the army. There are two institutions in Moscow responsible for storing relevant materials: RGVA (Russian State Military Archive) and RGVIA (military history). The first contains surviving documents with authentic information about the ancestors of the family for 1918-1940 - from the moment the Red Army (Workers 'and Peasants' Red Army) was created. The second contains the funds of the military department of the Russian Empire from the end of the 18th century until about March 1918. Now visitors to the specialized site site present how to find information about ancestors, having learned their origin based on the results of the study, if information about the pedigree is limited to knowledge along the service line, and you can proceed to explain the genealogical search in the archives.

How to find out your origin and find data about ancestors

In the second part of the article, we will talk about how to recognize your ancestors by last name by studying archival sources containing information about the representatives of the genus and their origin. The authors of the research bureau previously prepared a detailed publication on this topic, in which you can read what is the genealogical search for ancestors, what method achieves a positive result and how to find the desired type of document. And here we will explain the well-structured process of searching for data in archives from the point of view of an integrated approach, based on the available primary information about relatives. If you need an explanation of how to find out your origin through the connection of the generations of your ancestors and find the first bearers of the surname, then we recommend that you familiarize yourself with the following information, issued in the form of a manual.

The algorithm for conducting genealogical research (search in archives) is compiled on the basis of the dates and places of birth of the oldest relatives known to those who wish to know their origin, or based on the profession of a person. To figure it out where to find ancestors, you need to determine the type of institution in which you will study the documents. When the data of the Soviet period is of interest, the pedigree can be found through appeals to the archives of the registry offices (registrations of civil status). They contain books with references to the birth, marriage and death of ancestors. Keep in mind that it is only possible to restore any evidence upon presentation of evidence of kinship with the person you are looking for. If this citizen is alive, then the researcher must have a power of attorney certified by a notary to search for information. When a person dies, it is required to show a certificate of his death. There is information on the Internet that there are deviations from the rules, but these are the rarest exceptions or network fairy tales. Note that there are no reading rooms in the registry offices, cooperation occurs by sending requests to a specific department or a personal visit. Which territorial division should be disturbed in order to clarify the origin and how to find ancestors by last name? The application should be submitted at the place of the event, for example, if there is evidence that your relative is a native of city X, then send a request to the archive department of the registry office of this locality. If there is no such institution in a small village or village, then the truth must be sought in the administrative center. The bureaucratic machine can forward the application within its structure for months or completely ignore it, so the request to the archive about relatives should be clear, try to make the text as concise as possible - employees are interested in facts and specifics about the fate of the ancestor. Follow our recommendations, and this will help you find out the history of your last name.

Readers' attention is worthy of another branch of the archival study of documents of Soviet origin - civil search. How to find your ancestors through this direction to restore the family pedigree? The civilian method refers to the analysis of sources in separate institutions. For example, in our work we periodically refer to RGALI (Russian State Archive of Literature and Art). Its capital storages contain files with information about the activities of the cultural layer from all over the country, whether they are writers, artists, opera house singers or other artists. When you need to know your ancestors who were involved in politics, RGASPI (archive of socio-political history) will be useful. If information about the involvement of a person in the Party is known, then this institution will be indispensable. This specialized archive will also be useful to researchers in other situations that arise when searching for ancestors by surname, as it contains a huge amount of reliable sources about common history. Site visitors have already understood that the main wealth of Russia associated with the origin of people is located in Moscow and St. Petersburg, but you should know that regional archives operate in the centers of the subjects of our state. You will learn how to find your ancestors in the territorial departments in the final part of the article on establishing the roots of the genus.

How to recognize your ancestors and start working in archives

The subjects of our country have their own federal archives, where there is information on the pre-revolutionary era (somewhere there is a chance to find information on the beginning of the Soviet period), which helps to find out their origin and connect the family chains of the relationship of ancestors by the last name of a person. Unfortunately, it is not possible to name the exact date range, but the approximate time frame is as follows: from 1780 to 1930. Documents of earlier origin, for example, for the 17th century, are stored in Moscow in the RGADA (Russian State Archive of Ancient Acts). How to know your ancestors in "local" archives? To solve this problem, it is required to know that these institutions contain all the main genealogical sources for the dates indicated above. These include parish registers with surnames or names of ancestors - an analogue of civil status records for the Russian Empire, revision tales - a kind of census of the population in the yards of a particular settlement, confession sheets - lists with notes on church visits by residents of places located near the parish, and also a couple of dozen other less common document titles. You can read the nuances of a genealogical study of the fate of ancestors by last name in the corresponding manual on the Livemem website, a link to which the authors have already given in this publication, and a description of the types of sources themselves can be found in the "Articles" section.

Now let's touch on the topic of the work itself on searching for ancestors in archives and collecting information. As already mentioned, requests can be sent to government agencies and hired specialists can be sent. For example, you can order an archival search of people by name from us, and the bureau employees will conduct a study as your representatives. Naturally, there is an opportunity to find out your origin and see the cases "with your own hands". Let's take a closer look at this moment. In order to get into the archive and find their ancestors, the user, in most cases, needs to apply in advance, since there are not enough free places. Usually, reading rooms are equipped for 10-20 visitors. In some archives, permission must wait for months. Alas, such a picture scares off citizens and makes it difficult to restore the pedigree. But really experienced and competent researchers have all sorts of legitimate tricks to help speed up the process and find ancestors by last name.

When the appointment has been received and you have arrived at the specified time, the head of the reading room hands over the rules of archival work, which consist in the fact that when searching for ancestors it is forbidden to use mobile phones, cameras, the visitor undertakes to carefully handle sources of information about the origin and receive no more than 5 or 10 cases per day (or 1500 sheets). To save time, try to find them on the archive website. Then, you need to check in the visitor's log, and after following the formalities, the citizen can proceed to genealogical research and search for information. How to find your ancestors and what to take at the beginning of the search? Study the archive guide, find out which funds are stored in it and which of them are suitable for solving the task. Next, order an inventory and analyze the list of cases. If there is something on the list that will help reveal the secret of the pedigree, fill out a special requirement. Then, an employee of the archive writes you down for a certain date to familiarize yourself with the prepared cases containing facts about your ancestors along the family line. The period of "downtime" can be 3 days or 15 - it depends on the optimization of the bureaucracy of the institution. For nonresident users, there are exceptions, and documents can be issued immediately. Again, an experienced genealogist knows the tools to speed up the process. In the course of researching the origin of a kind, it is allowed to leave applications for photocopying or preparing electronic versions of the pages found with references to ancestors by the name of a person. Someone will need a certificate with the seal of the archive if it is necessary to provide an official document.

To find your ancestors by last name, you should not discount local history museums and libraries. Pedigree researchers achieve the best results in establishing the origin of a genus and collecting data with an integrated approach with attention to detail. In the archives of museums, it turns out to come across books of memory, where distinguished people are mentioned, among whom you can find relatives. In libraries, there is a chance to stumble upon survey materials on the locality with a list of local residents by last name for a certain range of time. In fact, there are so many sources containing information about the life of the population that it is impossible to list everything in one article. For the specific purpose of the search, an individual list of effective directions is selected and a unique plan is developed, which allows you to find out the maximum number of facts about the fate of the ancestors. There are, for example, such institutions as GARF (State Archive of the Russian Federation) or the notorious RGAE (archive of the economy), filled with large amounts of information. We hope that after reading this publication on how to find your lineage, visitors to our website of the Bureau of Family Research have got an idea of ​​​​the big picture and outlined for themselves ways to achieve success in finding ancestors and restoring family history.

If you have additions - let us know in the comments, we will make a useful resource together!

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When compiling one's genealogy (as well as when searching for any information about one's relatives), two ways are possible: I - contacting the appropriate archive with a request and II - independent work with archival documents in the archive reading room.

In any case, at the beginning of work, it is necessary to study the family archive, collect and analyze the preserved documents (copies) of parents, grandparents and other relatives, photographs, or information (memories) of relatives and friends.

I. When contacting the archive with a request to search for information about a member of the genus you are interested in, it is desirable to have the following information:

    surname, name, patronymic (for women - maiden name and in marriage - depending on the number of marriages);

    date of birth: year, month, day, if unknown, then approximately, within a few years;

    place of baptism (adoption) - cathedral, church, church, parish, etc.;

    place of birth: province (region), county (district), volost, city, village, village, etc., in large cities - part, plot, street, house;

    nationality;

    place of residence;

    date of death (if it is not known exactly, it can be approximate), place of burial: necropolis, cemetery, churchyard, mass grave;

    religion, whether there was a conversion to another faith;

    estate: nobility, honorary citizenship, Cossacks, clergy, urban estate (philistines, shop (artisans), merchants, peasants;

    rank, rank, title;

    marital status: where the marriage (wedding) took place - cathedral, church, church, parish, etc., when, last name, first name, patronymic of the wife (husband);

    place of service (where, when); titles, ranks, ranks, awards (what, when and for what);

    education: the name of the educational institution, faculty, when he studied and graduated;

    ownership of land, real estate (where: province, county, city, village, etc.);

    what documents do you have about the person you are interested in and can you provide copies of them;

    other facts known to you and details that you consider necessary to provide for the search: citizenship, citizenship (in relation to foreign citizens), the fact of guardianship, the fact of adoption (adoption), being on trial, family emigration, etc.

When addressing the archive with a request to search for information about one's relatives (ancestors), it should be borne in mind that such requests are executed by state archives on a paid basis. The price list is approved by the director of the archive. Addresses of state archives can be found on the website "Archives of Russia" (federal archives, regional archives).

II. When working independently with archival documents in the reading room of the archive, we recommend that you first familiarize yourself with the relevant literature:

    "Genealogical information in the state archives of Russia", a reference guide. VNIIDAD, M., 2004.

    "Index of types of documents containing genealogical information (XVI century - 1917)". VNIIDAD, 1998.

    Romanova S.N."Research of genealogical information in the state archives of Russia". "Bulletin of the Archivist", No. 5 (41), 1997.

    Onuchin A.N."Your family tree: a practical guide to compiling a family tree." Perm, 1992.

    Romanova S.N."How to Find Your Roots", "Herald of the Archivist", 1998, No. 2(44), No. 3(45).

    Antonov D.N., Antonova I.A.“Metric books: time to collect stones”, “Domestic Archives”, 1996, Nos. 4, 5.

In the reading rooms of the archives, you can take advantage of the advice of specialists, familiarize yourself with special leaflets prepared in a number of constituent entities of the Russian Federation to help people involved in genealogical research.

At the first stage of an independent search, you need to contact the archive (archives) of the region with which the life of the person you are interested in was connected. In the absence of most of the information about the wanted person (persons), we recommend restoring the block of information about them, going in ascending order, i.e. from parents to grandparents, from them to great-grandfather and great-grandmother, etc., using personal information stored in state and municipal archives (personal, personal, award, pension files, etc.) and information preserved in the family archive.

In connection with the possible renaming of settlements and various changes in the administrative-territorial division of the Russian state, it is advisable to use directories on the administrative-territorial division of the Russian Empire and the USSR to more accurately determine the search location.