In order to find and use specific types of Russian records, researchers need to be able to identify and understand some key terms in the Russian language.The following index contains record and archival terms transliterated from Russian (left column) and their English translations (right column).The terms included here are those that you are likely to find in Russian genealogical sources. If the term you are looking for is not on this list, please consult a Russian-English dictionary. Compiled by Jonathan J. Kalmakoff.
Index — Record Types – Archival Terms – Other Terms
Record Types
Akt |
deed; document |
Akt o smerti pereselentsa |
death certificate of an immigrant |
Akt ob Usynovlenii |
adoption certificate |
Brachnye Dokumenty |
marriage documents |
Chelobitnaya |
petition; the document whose purpose was the obtaining of certain privileges or donations |
Desyatina |
district list of service people (noblemen, Cossacks, etc.) in Imperial Russia in the 16th and 17th centuries |
Dogovor |
agreement; contract |
Domovaya Kniga |
house register; administrative account of the population of Russian cities in the 19th and early 20th centuries |
Gorodovaya Kniga |
city register; administrative account of the population of Russian cities in the 18th and 19th centuries |
Imennoi Podvornyi Spisok |
list of household members; administrative account of the population |
Ispovednaya Rospis’ |
account of the church population |
Ispovednaya Vedomost’ |
account of the church population |
Kameral’noe Opisanie |
judicial description (family list); administrative account of the population |
Kartochka Pereselentsa |
immigrant card |
Kladbishchenskaya Kniga |
burial register |
Kniga Registratsii RodivshikhsyaI Umershikh Gosudarstvennykh Krest’yan |
state peasant birth and death register |
Kniga Zapisi Umershikh |
death register |
Metricheskaya Kniga |
metrical book; parish register; birth certificate; baptismal certificate |
Metricheskaya Zapis’ |
metrical record; civil vital records |
Metrika |
metrical book; parish register; birth certificate; baptismal certificate |
Mezhevaya Kniga |
survey book; administrative account of property ownership, borders and sizes |
Nekrolog |
obituary |
Obyvatel’skaya Kniga |
register of inhabitants; administrative account of the population of Russian cities in the 19th and 19th centuries |
Otkrytyi List |
open list; police account of prisoners |
Pasport |
passport |
Pasportnaya Kniga |
passport book; police register of passports |
Pasport Zagranichnyi |
foreign passport |
Perepis’ Naseleniia |
census |
Podatnye spisok |
poll-tax list |
Posemeinyi Spisok |
family list; administrative account of the population |
Predbrachnoe Svidetel’stvo |
pre-marriage license |
Razbor Rekrutskikh Poslug |
military service review; military account of the population |
Registratsionjnaya Kniga Dlya Zapisi Krest’yan Derevni |
register book of village peasants taken in the 18th to early 20th centuries |
Reviziia |
revision; census in Imperial Russia in 1718-1857 |
Revizskaya skazka |
revision list; census record |
Rodoslovnye Knigi |
genealogical books; provincial account of the gentry class in Imperial Russia |
Rospis’ Rekrutov |
recruit list; military account of the population |
Spiski Pereselentsev |
list of immigrants; administrative account of the population |
Spiski Prezyvnikov |
recruit list; military account of the population |
Svedeniya o Rekrute |
recruit data; military account of the population |
Svidetel’stvo o Brake |
marriage certificate |
Svidetel’stvo o Rozhdenii |
birth certificate |
Svidetel’stvo o Smerti |
death certificate |
Svidetel’stvo o Udocherenii |
adoption certificate |
Svidetel’stvo o Vypolnenii |
certificate of performance of compulsory military |
Voinskoy Povinnosti |
service |
Semeinyi Spisok |
family list; administrative account of the population |
Uvol’nitel’nyi Bilet |
discharge ticket; document of discharge from military service |
Uvol’nitel’noe Svidetel’stvo |
discharge certificate; document of discharge from military service |
Ukaz |
edict; ukase |
Vid Na Zhitel’stvo |
residence permit |
Vladennaya Zapis’ |
title; deed |
Vrachebnaya Kartochka |
medical card |
Zapos’ o Brake |
record of marriage |
Zapis’ o Kreshchenii |
record of christening |
Zapis’ o Pogrebennom |
record of death |
Zapis’ o Rozhdenii |
record of birth |
Zapis’ o Umershem |
record of death |
Zapis’ o Venchanii |
record of church wedding |
Zaveshchanie |
will; testament |
Zhalovannaya Gramota |
bestowal letter fixing property rights of successors |
Archival Terms
Anketa |
questionnaire |
Arkhiv |
archive |
Blank Zakaza |
request form |
Bobina |
film reel |
Byulleten’ |
bulletin |
Delo |
file; a basic classification unit within a fond |
Deloproizvodstvennye Materialy |
documents of management and record-keeping |
Diagramma |
diagram |
Diplomaticheskaia Perepiska |
diplomatic correspondence |
Doklad |
report |
Dokladnaya Zapiska |
memorandum |
Dokument |
document |
Donesenie |
dispatch |
Federal’nyi Arkhiv |
federal archive |
Fond |
document collection; record group; a basic organizational grouping of archival materials |
Fotokopiya |
photocopy |
Gosudarstvennyi Arkhiv |
state archive |
Grafik |
graph; diagram; schedule |
Gramota |
document; deed |
Instruktsiia |
instruction |
Istochnik |
source, archival source |
Istochniki Lichnogo Proiskhozhdeniia |
sources of personal origin; personal documents |
Kartoteka |
card catalog/index |
Katalog |
catalog; directory |
Khronograf |
chronological record |
Kopiia |
copy |
Letopis’ |
chronicle; annals |
Lichnyi Arkhiv |
personal collection |
List |
folio; list; sheet (of paper) |
Listok Ucheta |
registration form |
Literaturnyi Pamiatnik |
literary work |
Mandat |
mandate, warrant |
Manuskript |
old (ancient) manuscript |
Massovye Istochniki |
mass, popular sources |
Mikrofil’m |
microfilm |
Nakaz |
order; instructions |
Nazvanie |
title |
Nomer |
number |
Norma |
norm; standard |
Novyi Stil’ |
new style; a new system of chronology, based on the Gregorian calendar, introduced in Russia on February 14 (1), 1918 |
Oborot |
verso; reverse side of a sheet. |
Obzor |
survey; summary; description |
Ob’yavlenie |
advertisement; notice |
Opisanie |
description; survey. |
Opis |
inventory; unpublished inventory of a fond; a list of dela; a basic finding aid |
Otchet |
record; account; report |
Otpis’ |
letter; legal document |
Papka |
paper folder |
Perechen’ |
list; inventory |
Petitsiya |
petition; written supplication |
Pis’mennyi Istochnik |
written source; a document; an archival source containing any types of written, typed or printed material |
Pis’mo |
letter |
Plan raboty |
plan of work |
Podlinnik |
original; authentic document |
Polozhenie |
regulation; statute |
Posemeinyi spisok |
family list |
Postanovlenie |
decree; decision; resolution |
Predpisanie |
direction; instruction |
Prikaz |
order |
Proshenie |
petition; written supplication |
Putevoditel’ |
guide; a published archival finding aid covering major document collections of a particular archive |
Raport |
brief report |
Rasporiazhenie |
order; instruction |
Rassekrecheno |
declassified |
Reestr |
register; list; roll |
Regional’nyi Arkhiv |
regional archive |
Rezoliutsiia |
resolution; decision |
Rukopis’ |
manuscript; handwritten document |
Sekretno |
classified |
Skhema |
diagram |
Sluzhebnoe pis’mo |
official letter |
Sobranie |
archival collection |
Spisok |
list; inventory; index |
Spravka |
information; notification; report |
Spravochnik |
guide; finding aid |
Staryi Stil’ |
old style; an old-style system of chronology, based on the Julian calendar, existed in Russia from 1700 and replaced by novyi stil’ in accordance with the February 14, 1918 reform |
Statistika |
statistics |
Sushchestvuyushchii |
extant |
Tarif |
tariff; rate |
Telegramma |
telegram |
Tema |
topic |
Ukazanie |
directive; command |
Unichtozheno |
destroyed |
Ustav |
statute; regulation |
Vetkhoe |
fragile; in bad condition |
Vnutrennyaya Opis’ |
internal inventory of all documents in the delo |
Vodyanoy Znak |
watermark |
Vypiska |
note; copy |
Zaiavlenie |
request, application |
Zhurnal Ucheta |
registration book; account ledger |
Other Russian Terms
Bibliography
Dal, V.I. Tolkovyi Slovar Zhivogo Velikorusskago Iazyka. (Moscow, 1999).
Kroutikhin, Mikhail I. Correspondence to the author re: Russian genealogical terms. September, 2006.
Mueller, V.K. English-Russian Dictionary. 24th Ed. (Moscow, 1995).
Pushkarev, Sergei G. Dictionary of Russian Historical Terms from the Eleventh Century to 1917 (Yale, 1970).