Translation Aids
Quick Jumps:
Sample translations - Polish • Sample translations - Russian • German script samples • Books • German Occupations • Alternate given and surnames • Dictionaries and translators • Viewing non-English fonts
Sample translations of Polish-Language Church Records
- Birth Record Page 1, Page 2, Page 3 (requires DjVu plugin - see Technical Page)
- Off site birth record provided by Jack Bowman.
- Off site marriage record provided by Jack Bowman.
- Off site death record provided by Jack Bowman.
Sample translations of Russian-Language Church Records
- SGGEE has now created its own set of help files for translating the Napoleonic style of Russian language records. These pages include translation forms for numbers, months, and places. They also include samples of records from the Lublin Lutheran Parish.
German Script samples
- Prussian State Archive samples - in German only. The Arbeitshelfe also contains some good historical maps.
- German Sütterlin Script writing exercises with examples that will also help you to read the script.
Books
A Translation Guide to 19th-Century Polish-Language Civil-Registration Documents by Judith R. Frazin
Includes a detailed overview of the different types of Polish language documents and outlines how to use key words to extract data and information, even if you have no experience with Polish. Also includes handy lists of words specific to certain document types as well as for certain topics such as Religious Words, and Occupations.
In Their Words, Volume I: Polish (A Genealogist's Translation Guide to Polish, German, Latin, and Russian Documents) by Jonathan D. Shea and William F. Hoffman
This book is much more detailed than Frazin's, including a variety of other documents besides those for civil registration. It also includes clues for how and where to find other materials useful in genealogical research.
In Their Words, Volume II: Russian by Jonathan D. Shea and William Hoffman
Similar to above but specific to Russian language and Cyrillic script.
Decipher Germanic Records by Edna M Bentz
Detailed overview how to interpret old German script as it evolved over several centuries. Includes sections on terms found in records, illnesses, and occupations - all translated to Latin, English, and Danish and shown in original German script.
To find sources for these books, GOOGLE the author's name or try Genealogy Unlimited.
German Occupations
This site provides a very good discussion of the development of German occupation terms broken down into a number of categories. You can browse through the info to see if you can find the particular occupation you are looking for. A separate alphabetical listing is a work in progress as of this posting and unfortunately only contains A and B categories but do not let that deter you from other good info found there.
Alternate Given Name and Alternate Surname Lists
- SGGEE Alternate Christian Name List
Find the equivalent spelling or variation of a name in English, German and Polish (pdf format). - Christian Name Variations
This Polish language site is an excellent source for alternative names in a variety of languages such as Latin, French, German and others. Though in Polish, you do not need to know it to use it. Click one of the letters along the top to go to the name you want. For example, you are looking for Jerzy so click on J to find names starting with that letter. Then click the little "page" icon beside the name to go to the variations list where you will see that the equivalent is George along with other variant spellings. Similarly, click on Boguslaw and find that it is the same as Gottlieb and has no English equivalent. One minor problem with it is that you can only start with a Polish name to find its equivalent. - SGGEE Alternate Surnames List
(not substantiated)
Find the equivalent spelling or variation of a surname as found in the SGGEE Pedigree database, and from other sources. There are now two different lists - substantiated and not substantiated. That does not mean that the unsubstantiated list is of no value. It does mean that the names listed there have not been substantiated by someone using more than just personal family records or family lore. - SGGEE Alternate Surnames List
(substantiated)
This list was reviewed and updated by our member Antje Mass. It represents valid alternates that can be verified from records sources, factual translations of surname meanings, etc. - The etymology and history of first names of many different languages including Polish, German, and English.
Dictionaries and Translators
NOTE: SGGEE does not endorse nor specifically approve of any professional translations services (fee based) listed below. The listings are provided for your convenience only. Use of any such services is at your own risk.
Note: Some of the sites listed below, such as Babelfish, will allow you to insert the link for a web page and it will then translate the entire page for you. But a word of caution. Electronic translations devices are far from perfect, which can lead to some odd translations as well as significant errors. For example, it does not know if a word is a name or not. So a phrase like "Herr Steinwand" (Mr. Steinwand) might be rendered as "mister stony wall". Similarly, the electronic translator can only make a best guess as to which of several alternate meanings is required. If the material is really important to your research, use a qualified human translator.
- Polish words used in genealogical records from the Family History Library.
- QuickDic - German to and from English. Includes features not found in other dictionaries such as phonetic transcriptions and others. Regularly updated to increase the number of words.
- 1-800-Translate is a site that offers professional translation, for a fee, of an entire document, from 115 languages that include Russian, Polish and German and Ukrainian.
- InterTran provides a variety of software and other electronic translations services as well as professional human translators.
- Slovnyk works with a variety of languages, including those typically found in our research.
- Russian Translation USA - Professional translation services in all major areas between the Russian and English languages.
- Babelfish - Free on line translator, German or Russian to and from English. Can do entire web pages.
- Leo - Free on line translator, German to and from English.
- Poltran - Free on line translator, Polish to and from English.
- Rustran - Free on line translator, Russian to and from English
- Prompt - Free on line translator, German and Russian, to and from English.
- Freeware - Free on line translator, Russian to and from English.
- Worldroots - A German to English list of old German trades or professions (no D, G, H, L or M at present).
- Wiki (occupation) - Translates old German and Latin trades or professions into modern German equivalents. Use this in conjunction with Worldroots or a good German to English dictionary.
- Wiki (illness) - Translates old German and Latin terms for a variety of illnesses to modern German terms. Use this in conjunction with a good German to English dictionary.
Fonts for viewing and typing non-English text
- Cyrillic Fonts - for Windows. Look for the file cyrkit40.zip
- Macintosh Truetype - from our own SGGEE server.
- Windows Truetype - from our own SGGEE server.