SOURCES and GUIDES for Norwegian Genealogical Research

START HERE IF YOU DO NOT KNOW WHERE YOUR ANCESTORS WERE LOCATED IN NORWAY, AND YOU DO NOT KNOW AND/OR CANNOT MAKE AN EDUCATED GUESS AS TO HOW THEIR NAME WAS SPELLED IN NORWEGIAN:

01. FamilySearch.org is a HUGE online database with transcribed data from Censuses, U.S. Church Records, U.S. Draft Records, and even some transcribed Norwegian Church Records. You will need to set up a User Name and Password on your first visit - which can be saved for future use if your are on your home computer. (In the over 30 years I have been using their database, I have never had a problem with them "selling" my information or using it for advertising. -Webmaster)

Since these are mostly American Sources, most will not need translation. Lutheran Church records, however, are often in Norwegian, but in columns assisting you in your search. The LDS (Mormon) Church has filmed MANY records, also indexing most of these, so their online FREE database is a good place to start your search. If you can get to one of their Family History Centers or an affiliated library, you can sometimes see photos of the original documents, although this is easier to do in the free Arkivverket.no National Archives of Norway website mentioned below.

02. Ancestry.com also has many U.S. and Norwegian records, but they are by a paid subscription - although many public libraries and all LDS Family History Centers have Ancestry available to use in their facilities.

START HERE IF YOU ALREADY KNOW WHERE YOUR ANCESTORS WERE LOCATED IN NORWAY, AND YOU KNOW OR CAN GUESS AT THEIR NAME AS SPELLED IN NORWEGIAN:

01. The National Archives of Norway - includes Parish Registers, Censuses, Probate Records, and Court Records - many FREE online!

Digital Archive Holdings:

Digital Archives Main Page (for an overview of their holdings).

Digitised Parish Registers online scanned copies of actual parish register pages.
Note: for a list of old county names (before 1918) and their new names, see Map of Counties of Norway with a Listing of Old Counties and their New Names (after names were changed in 1918) in the FamilySearch Wiki.

Scanned Censuses of Norway - Searchable Database to Browse based on locality. "Here you will find state census and population data for the period 1664-1920, as well as a number of council and local censuses. The 1920 census will be freely available from 1st December 2020."

Scanned Probate Records of Norway - Searchable Database to Browse based on locality. "Here you will find public probate materiale, most of which stems from county and municipal court archives. Death registers are available from the end of the 19th century. These are freely available for the period up to, and including 1934."

Scanned Court Records of Norway - Searchable Database to Browse based on locality. "Here you will find court records from municipal or village courts (forerunners to the modern-day courts), as well as records from other high-up legal bodies such as the forerunner to todays supreme court."

Land Deed, Mortgage and Other Land Records - Browsable registers, etc. Note: these records are in Norwegian.

02. Norwegian Farm Names - Database. Useful search engine to identify farm names and their corresponding counties. If spelling is an issue, just enter the first few letters and it will give you a list of possibilities. (See also maps showing locations of some farms at left and below.)

Important Note: Areas of Scandinavia used Patronymic naming patterns into the 1800's - whereby children's names consisted of a given/first name, followed by their father's first name with a suffix of "son/sen" or "datter/dotter" - then often ending with their farm name.
As an example, the Webmaster's 1837 immigrants showed their names on the ship's manifest as:
Austen Knudsen Espeland age 22 - He was from Espeland Farm
Siri Houlsdatter age 18 (women kept their father-based patronymic after marriage)
Swent Ostensen age 1/2, their son. (Another note: names were often written/spelled by non-Norwegians based on what they heard.)

Therefore, for immigrants to the U.S. or through other countries, Farm Names may take on added significance in your research.
Also, when researching within Norwegian records, you will find the Farm Names used for identification purposes within Parish Baptism, Marriage, and Burial records.

Another important research note for names in Norway: If a man moved to another farm (say, to where his wife lived), he would often take on his NEW locale's Farm Name in the records.

02a.Norgeskart.net - detailed Topographical Map of Norway with County and Parish Boundaries plus Farm Names in the close-up views (zoom in & out, plus mouse hold-down moveablility)
This is a GREAT MAP for researchers!!! It gives an understanding of the geographical environment in which your ancestors lived, which provides help in looking for nearby locales which may give clues for marriages, parentage, siblings, etc.

02b. Interactive Map with Norway County and Parish boundaries at NorwayParishes.com in which you can hone in on County and Municipality, then zoom in to Parish, and even some Farm Names. The boundaries of each are shown on the map.

02c. Map of Norway at Google Norway - will give you a "suggested" list of locations which helps with Norwegian letters and spelling variations. Note: You can look up location and images for many FARMS if you know the Parish and County names and if the farm name is still in use.

03. The University of Troms's (UiT) Norwegian Historical Data Centre has links and articles for various data. Topics include:

Search online by Name, Parish, and Farm Name in the Norwegian 1865, 1875, 1900, and 1910 Censuses.

Advanced online Search in the Norwegian 1865, 1875, 1900, and 1910 Censuses. Note: It is possible to do a search by Farm Name or Civil Parish Name if you know the correct spelling and the Civil County - this is helpful if you do not know the correct spelling for the family names in Norwegian.

Parish Registers - Online Searches for some Parishes.

Download the entire 1886 Land Register for individual Counties as an Excel file. Parts of the 1838 Land Registers are also available.

04. Bygdeboks: "Bygdeboker are published farm and family histories compiled by local Norwegian groups."

Finding a Bygdebok (Norwegian parish, farm, and local histories, often with linked genealogical information within farm names) for your ancestral parish or farm is one of the most helpful genealogical research resources anywhere!!! - and they are ONLY for Norway!

Bygdeboks held at the University of Minnesota Libraries

Bygdebok Collection at the University of North Dakota.
Note: Their website is currently being redesigned, so a listing of their holdings may still be unavailable. See above webpage for information.

Hunting for a Bygdebok for your parish or town includes looking in several locations:

05. Useful Resources at FamilySearch.org:

The Norway Genealogy Main Page at FamilySearch.org gives a general list of types of records and links to guides with research suggestions. Parish, Taxation, and other maps for a county are shown in the FamilySearch Wiki pages for the various counties of Norway.

Norway Maps webpage in FamilySearch Wiki with county maps of Norway showing locations of parishes.

06. Norwegian American Genealogical Center and Naeseth Library Their various research resources are useful for Immigration and Immigrants in the U.S. data. They also have online Norwegian Language Classes - see their Events Menu.

(This Section is Pending available FamilySearch links not yet active.)
07. Records of the Evengelical Lutheran Church in America. This includes records of some of the previous Lutheran synods merged in to ELCA.
Many of these have been filmed by Ancestry.com - accessed via a paid subscription or free at your local LDS Family History Center OR some public libraries.

FamilySearch is apparently in the process of digitizing and indexing their records, but they do not yet appear to be available.

08. The Norwegian Genealogical Society - Articles, How-to's, & Links (all in Norwegian) or U.S. Version in English (but with a different format and imaging)

To Search the Holdings of the The Norwegian Genealogical Society enter your subject or place of interest and click S k. (Book or resource listing is all in Norwegian).

(See Google Translate suggestions at the bottom of this page to translate pages separately - note that links within Google translated pages usually will not work.)

(This Section is Being Modified)
09. National Library of Norway - Online Search page
As a starting point, advanced researchers might want to try a search to just see what exists by going to the National Library of Norway website to search for what books might exist for your parish or town. It is ONLY in Norwegian, so having 2 window open (one being Google translate) to instantly translate entries on a side-by-side basis. (More on techniques later)

National Library of Norway - search page via Google Translate

10. Norway-Heritage: focusing on Norwegian Immigration, including pre-1875 passenger lists, information about Emigrant Ships (including some pictures), and images of Erie Canal at the time of immigration, etc. Also has a list of links regarding Norwegian Emigration research.

Norwegian Emigration Records: this page provides an excellent description of available Norwegian emigration records as well as links to other Norwegian research resources.

11. Norwegians in the U.S. Civil War, including many born in Sweden or Denmark, plus information about some men who served in other American Wars.
Database listing Norwegians serving in the U.S. Civil War, giving their county of residence and other personal information (varies greatly by soldier) such as injuries, deaths, county of residence after the war, etc. Provided by the Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum. (Also in book form at S.O.N. Culver City)
Note: this is a duplicate of entry on our Scandinavia & Immigrant webpage

12. Vesterheim Museum. The National Norwegian-American Museum & Heritage Museum. Located in Decorah, Iowa, this Museum features Collections, Exhibits, and online cultural articles and examples emphasizing the culture and art of Norwegian immigrants to the U.S. They also have a library containing information about Norwegian immigrants.

13. Norwegian-American Bygdelagenes Fellesraad. Bygdelags are groups comprised of descendants who emigrated from various places in Norway to North America. The groups are organized by Norwegian County or County groups based on their Norwegian homelands. This site also provides links to the most current brochure with maps and contacts.

List of Lags (groups), including a Fylke (like county) Map of Norway. Scroll down to see map and lists of Fylkes and Lags (groups)

More Links coming soon from our members.

USING Google Translate to translate online webpages written in Norwegian, with no English "choice" shown:

Note that there are 2 very different versions of the Norwegian language still in current use, as well as pronunciation variations from geographic dialects.

For websites written in Norwegian (either version), you can use Google Translate to translate the text of the page into English (text in images will not be automatically translated - you will need to type in such text manually).
Also, when using Google Translate, note the small typewriter icon - click on this typewriter to select Norwegian letters not found in the English keyboard, to be included in the text you are typing as input for Google translation.
For genealogical purposes, Google does a reasonable job of translating, but for older documents, their translations may be inaccurate or even strange.

Note that you can COPY AND PASTE the URL from a Norwegian webpage into Google Translate, and Google will attempt to translate the page for you - but links seldom work because the linked webpages use the Norwegian file names.