German records speak their own language — and not only German, but the abbreviations, Latin terms, and symbols that clerks used for centuries. This glossary collects the words and marks you will meet most often in church books, civil registers, and gazetteers, grouped so you can find them fast. Keep it open beside your records, and pair it with our guide to reading old German handwriting.
Symbols and abbreviations
These shorthand marks appear constantly in registers and family trees:
- * — born (geboren)
- ~ — baptised (getauft)
- oo — married (the linked-rings symbol; verheiratet / getraut)
- + or † — died (gestorben)
- [] or □ — buried (begraben / bestattet)
- geb. — geborene, “née,” a woman’s maiden name
- verw. — verwitwet, widowed; verh. — verheiratet, married
Record and event terms
- Kirchenbuch — church book / parish register
- Taufe, getauft — baptism, baptised; Geburt, geboren — birth, born
- Heirat / Trauung, getraut — marriage, married
- Tod, gestorben — death, died; Beerdigung / Begräbnis — burial
- Standesamt — civil registry office; Urkunde — certificate
- Familienbuch / Ortsfamilienbuch — family register / village family book
- Pate, Patin, Taufzeuge — godfather, godmother, baptismal witness
Family and relationship terms
- Vater, Mutter — father, mother; Eltern — parents
- Sohn, Tochter, Kind — son, daughter, child
- Ehemann, Ehefrau — husband, wife; Witwe, Witwer — widow, widower
- ehelich, unehelich — legitimate, illegitimate (born outside marriage)
- ledig — unmarried; Geschwister — siblings
Place and jurisdiction terms
- Ort, Dorf, Stadt — place, village, town/city
- Kirchspiel / Pfarrei — parish; Pfarrer — pastor / priest
- Kreis, Amt, Bezirk — district / county-level administrative units
- Standesamtsbezirk — civil registration district
- Auswanderung, Auswanderer — emigration, emigrant
Occupations you will meet often
- Bauer, Landwirt — farmer; Tagelöhner — day labourer
- Müller — miller; Schmied — smith; Schneider — tailor; Weber — weaver
- Knecht, Magd — farmhand, maidservant; Handwerker — craftsman
Latin terms in Catholic registers
- natus / nata — born (male / female); baptizatus — baptised
- matrimonium, copulati — marriage, married; mortuus / defunctus — died / deceased
- filius / filia — son / daughter; pater / mater — father / mother
- eodem die — on the same day; anno — in the year
This is a starter reference, not an exhaustive dictionary — once these become familiar, the structure of almost any German register entry will fall into place.
Time, dates, and the calendar
- Months: Januar, Februar, März, April, Mai, Juni, Juli, August, September, Oktober, November, Dezember
- Latin months in Catholic records: Januarius, Februarius, Martius, Aprilis, Maius, Junius, Julius, Augustus, September, October, November, December
- eodem die — on the same day; hujus — of this (month); anno — in the year
- Tag — day; Jahr — year; Monat — month
Numbers
- eins, zwei, drei, vier, fünf — 1–5; sechs, sieben, acht, neun, zehn — 6–10
- elf, zwölf, dreizehn — 11, 12, 13; zwanzig, dreißig — 20, 30
- erste, zweite, dritte — first, second, third (used in dates)
Status and life-event terms
- geboren (geb.) — born / née; getauft — baptised; konfirmiert — confirmed
- verlobt — engaged; verheiratet (verh.) — married; geschieden — divorced
- verwitwet (verw.) — widowed; gestorben (gest.) — died; begraben — buried
- unehelich — born outside marriage; Zwillinge — twins; Totgeburt — stillbirth
More occupations
- Bäcker — baker; Metzger / Fleischer — butcher; Zimmermann — carpenter
- Maurer — mason; Schuster — shoemaker; Wirt — innkeeper
- Lehrer — teacher; Pfarrer — pastor/priest; Soldat — soldier
- Hebamme — midwife (often named in baptism records); Bürger — citizen/townsman
Civil-record and place terms
- Standesbeamter — civil registrar; Register — register; Nummer (Nr.) — entry number
- wohnhaft — residing at; gebürtig aus — native of; Heimat — home place / place of origin
- Gemeinde — municipality / community; Provinz — province; Königreich — kingdom
Relationship and household terms
- Großvater, Großmutter — grandfather, grandmother; Enkel — grandchild
- Onkel, Tante — uncle, aunt; Neffe, Nichte — nephew, niece; Vetter, Base — (male/female) cousin
- Schwiegervater, Schwiegermutter — father-in-law, mother-in-law; Schwager, Schwägerin — brother-/sister-in-law
- Stiefvater, Stiefmutter — stepfather, stepmother; Waise — orphan
Common abbreviations in entries
- s. — son of (Sohn); T. — daughter of (Tochter); Ehel. — legitimate (ehelich)
- ux. / Ux. — uxor, “wife” (Latin); vid. — vidua/viduus, widow/widower (Latin)
- led. — single (ledig); jun. / sen. — junior / senior
Cause-of-death and health terms
- Alter / Altersschwäche — old age; Fieber — fever; Schwindsucht — consumption (tuberculosis)
- Pocken — smallpox; Cholera — cholera; Wassersucht — dropsy/oedema
- Kindbett — childbirth (often the mother’s cause of death); Unfall — accident
A few useful Latin phrases
- legitimus / illegitimus — legitimate / illegitimate; sponsus / sponsa — groom / bride
- patrini / testes — godparents / witnesses; sepultus — buried
- ibidem (ibid.) — in the same place; quondam — formerly / the late
Pair these with the handwriting guide and the structure of most entries becomes predictable, even before every letter is clear.
Document and archive terms
- Abschrift — copy / transcript; beglaubigt — certified; Original — original
- Archiv — archive; Akte — file / dossier; Band (Bd.) — volume; Seite (S.) — page
- Eintrag — entry; Verzeichnis — index / register; Findbuch — finding aid
Religion and confession
- katholisch (kath.) — Catholic; evangelisch (ev.) — Protestant / Evangelical
- reformiert — Reformed/Calvinist; lutherisch — Lutheran; jüdisch — Jewish
- Pfarrei / Kirchspiel — parish; Gemeinde — congregation / community
Directions and common descriptors
- Nord, Süd, Ost, West — north, south, east, west; bei — near (as in “Hausen bei…”)
- ober / unter — upper / lower (in place names); groß / klein — great / little (in place names)
- alt / neu — old / new (in place names)
Just getting started? Grab the free German Genealogy Starter Checklist — a step-by-step worksheet for gathering what you have, finding your ancestral town, and opening the right German records in the right order.
