As we progress further back with our research, chances increase that we will come across a document written in Latin. Latin is the language of the Romans. Through the continuing influence of Roman civilization and the use of Latin by the Catholic Church many genealogical resources are written in Latin.
Nearly all Roman Catholic church records used Latin to some extent. Latin was used in the records of most European countries and in the Roman Catholic records of the United States and Canada. Because Latin was used in so many countries, local usage varied. Certain terms were commonly used in some countries but not in others. In addition, the Latin used in British records has more abbreviations than the Latin used in European records.
Some common genealogical terms include the following :
| English | Latin |
| birth | nati, natus, genitus, natales, ortus, oriundus |
| burial | sepulti, sepultus, humatus, humatio |
| christening | baptismi, baptizatus, renatus, plutus, lautus, purgatus, ablutus, lustratio |
| child | infans, filius/filia, puer, proles |
| death | mortuus, defunctus, obitus, denatus, decessus, peritus, mors, mortis, obiit, decessit |
| father | pater |
| godparent | patrini, levantes, susceptores |
| godfather | patrinus, compater |
| godmother | matrina, patrina, commater |
| husband | maritus, sponsus, conjux, vir |
| marriage | matrimonium, copulatio, copulati, conjuncti, intronizati, nupti, sponsati, ligati, mariti |
| marriage banns | banni, proclamationes, denuntiationes |
| mother | mater |
| given name | nomen |
| surname | cognomen |
| parents | parentes, genitores |
| wife | uxor, marita, conjux, sponsa, mulier, femina, consors |
There are a number of sites online that can help you with translating genealogical records written in Latin. One such website is the Latin Genealogical Word List. The website itself also includes links to other sites you may find helpful.
