These are my best resources for Swedish genealogy. The records in Sweden are in Swedish, sometimes with the addition of Latin phrases. Most of the websites can still be used in English and those are marked ENG. Give it a go and put the Swedish texts through an online translator such as Google Translate.
Latest update: July 30, 2019.
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Archives and registers
Ancestry
ENG. Ancestry – Start with finding your Swedish immigrant on the ships through Ancestry. It has several databases for tracking migrants. You will find some of them below. To access these you will need the subscription World Explorer or All Access.
- New York, Passenger Lists, 1820-195. Passenger lists for incoming ships, indexed and photographed.
- Swedish Emigration Records, 1783-1951. Indexes for passenger lists and other travel documents.
- Gothenburg, Sweden, Passenger Lists, 1869-1951. Passenger lists for ships leaving Gothenburg, indexed and photographed. Gothenburg had the main port for migrants from Sweden.
- Sweden, Emigrants Registered in Church Books, 1783-1991. Emigrants gathered from Swedish Church records. It also includes data from tax records and American church records and newspapers. It is most reliable for the period 1836 to 1895.
- Sweden, Church Records, 1451-1943. Church records for continuing the search for your ancestors in Sweden. Black and white images.
ArkivDigital
ENG. ArkivDigital – The most useful resource for Swedish genealogy is ArkivDigital. It has color photographs that are easy to read. ArkivDigital provides relevant records and a growing collection of registers. A selection is listed bellow.
- Göteborgs poliskammare (-1900). Passenger lists for ships leaving Gothenburg from 1869 to 1951.
- Poliskammaren i Malmö. Passenger lists for ships leaving Malmö between 1874 and 1939.
- Church books earliest times-1894, 1895-1947. Lists every person in Sweden and their address. First in the household records (husföhörslängd), and later in parish books (församlingsbok). Also includes records for Moving in and out, Birth and Christening, and Banns and Marriage. Some books are not available online due to newer entries still under 70 years’ secrecy.
- Estate inventories earliest time-1900. Sorted by hundred (härad). The estate inventories mention the heirs and assets of the deceased. Registers are also available.
- Population of Sweden 1860-1930. A database. The posts often include links to the relevant church books.
- Population of Sweden name index 1940, 1950, 1960, 1975, 1985.
- Population of Stockholm 1945.
- Swedes in US 1940, (US Census 1940).
- General muster rolls.
- Aerial photographs. Contain farms, buildings, and houses from the 1950s and onward.
Stockholms Stadsarkiv
Stockholms Stadsarkiv – Stockholm city archive has many records and databases available online. Some of the regular archives are not as useful in Stockholm as in the rest of the country. Then you need to dig into the city archives. A useful link is the taxation registers that span from 1760 to 1935.
SVAR
ENG. SVAR, Digital Research Room – A similar selection to ArkivDigital. It is the only online service with certain military and taxation records. SVAR is free of charge. (For English see the link Other languages.)
Download a four step guide to remember every clue you have about your Swedish ancestor.
Contextual Sources
Bygdeband
Bygdeband – A site for local folklore societies with photos, lists of place names and more.
DigitalMuseum
ENG. DigitaltMuseum – Digital presentation of artifacts in Scandinavian museums. Includes photos, many of which are available to use.
Fornsök
Fornsök – An interactive map by The Swedish National Heritage Board. Shows ancient remains, including the ruins of old buildings.
Nordisk Familjebok
Nordisk Familjebok – A Swedish encyclopaedia available online at Project Runeberg. The first edition is from 1876-1899, the second edition is from 1904-1926.
Project Runeberg
ENG. Project Runeberg – An online collection of Nordic literature. The books are scanned and transcribed.
Search Swedish Newspapers
Search Swedish Newspapers – A digital archive of Swedish newspapers. By Kungliga Biblioteket, The National Library.
Stockholmskällan
ENG. Stockholmskällan – A historical database for Stockholm.
Family Trees
Ancestry
ENG. Ancestry – Ancestry has a large collection of user submitted family trees.
DISBYT
ENG. DISBYT by DIS of Sweden – A database of family trees. The submissions are screened before upload. The family trees are bare bones. You can become a member for a small fee, or test it by entering “guest” as username and password.
A final tip
The Swedish word for local folklore society is “hembygdsförening”. Search the internet for “hembygdsförening” and the name of the parish or area of interest. That way you may find a local folklore society. Their websites are often filled with historic information and photos.
What’s next
Do you want to know more about common sources in Swedish genealogy and learn about their background? Read about it in the blog post the most useful genealogy sources in Sweden.
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Annika is a Swedish genealogist and the owner of Find a Swede. The goal of this blog is to share the little things from Sweden that make sense of your research. Always backed up with data.
