Slovak Records and the Hungarian Era Explained

To research Slovak ancestors you need to understand the Kingdom of Hungary. Until 1918 the territory of present-day Slovakia was part of it, and that shaped which records exist, which language they are in, what the villages were called and where the registers are now. This guide explains the Hungarian era, the main Slovak record sets and how to search them. We checked these details in October 2026, and archive portals, access rules and online collections change, so confirm them before you rely on them.

Slovakia before 1918

Before the establishment of independent Czechoslovakia in 1918, the villages of present-day Slovakia belonged to counties within the Kingdom of Hungary. Under Hungarian rule there was strong political pressure to convert place names to Hungarian, according to a Slovak research guide, and after 1918 Slovak names came into official use. Present-day official names in Slovakia are in Slovak, and in the east dual Slovak and Rusyn names are used. See how to find the village of origin.

Parish registers

Duplicates. In 1827 the Hungarian Parliament directed every religious group in the Kingdom to keep two sets of registers and to forward a duplicate to the county authorities, according to Vivian Kahn’s JewishGen guide. Many of these duplicates, called bishop’s copies, are in the Hungarian National Archives in Budapest.
Moved to state archives. After the Second World War, pre-1895 parish records were supposed to be transferred to the state archives, and one research guide says that in 1952 the state directed that all church records before 1895 be transferred.
Coverage. FamilySearch’s collection of church and synagogue books for 1592 to 1935 includes images and some indexes of baptisms, marriages and burials for Roman Catholic, Evangelical Lutheran and Reformed parishes and Jewish congregations, from archives in Prešov, Bytča, Košice, Levoča, Banská Bystrica, Nitra and Bratislava.
Greek Catholic records. The research guide notes that not all Greek Catholic records from 1895 to 1950 were preserved, which matters for Rusyn families.

Civil registration from 1895

Public civil registration was introduced in the Kingdom of Hungary on 1 October 1895, so that everyone in a town was registered by the government in the same book, regardless of religion. Records from 1895 until about 1920 were written in Hungarian, and after that Slovak, or sometimes Czech, was used, according to JewishGen. Civil registration records less than 100 years old are maintained locally, usually in the village registrar’s office, which in some areas serves several villages. See our guide to civil records and censuses.

The 1869 census

FamilySearch has the 1869 census of Slovakia, described in an older guide as having over 270,000 images. It is a Hungarian-era census, so check what language and headings the forms use.

Languages

Hungarian was used along with Latin and German in the records of all areas of the old Kingdom of Hungary before 1918. You will therefore meet Latin baptism registers, Hungarian civil registers and, after 1920, Slovak or Czech. See our guide to reading Latin, German and Hungarian records.

A research routine

Identify the village and parish. Find the Hungarian, Slovak and German forms of the name.
Check FamilySearch’s Slovak church books for the parish and years.
For 1895 onward, look for civil registers, and remember that records less than 100 years old are kept locally.
Use the 1869 census to find the household.
Check which archive holds the registers if they are not online.
Note the denomination, since each church kept its own books.

Illustrative composite (not a real family): A reader’s Slovak great-grandmother was baptized in 1888. The village is listed under a Hungarian name in the 1877 gazetteer and under a Slovak name today. She finds the parish’s Roman Catholic baptism register on FamilySearch, written in Latin, and the entry gives the parents and godparents. For her great-grandparents’ 1910 marriage, she needs the civil register, which is in Hungarian, and she asks the local registrar’s office.

Hungarian National Archives microfilms

A guide to Hungarian archive research notes that the microfilm collection of the National Archives of Hungary holds duplicates of parish registers created before 1 October 1895, mainly from the present territory of Hungary, and that some copies from the territory of historical Hungary, including Upper Hungary, can also be found there. If a Slovak register is missing or damaged, ask whether a duplicate survives in Budapest.

Rusyn and Greek Catholic families

In eastern Slovakia many families were Rusyn and Greek Catholic, and the research guide notes that not all Greek Catholic records from 1895 to 1950 were preserved, so for these families ask the local registrar and the state archive early.

Common mistakes

Searching only the modern Slovak name. Pre-1918 records use Hungarian forms.
Skipping the civil registers. They start in 1895 and are in Hungarian at first.
Ignoring the denomination. Each church kept separate books.
Assuming everything is online. Many records are not.
Overlooking the bishop’s copies. Duplicates may survive elsewhere.

Continue with the complete tracing guide and the Czech parish registers guide, and browse Genealogy Research. Sources include a Slovak research strategies guide on the Kingdom of Hungary, a Slovak research guide on church records, a JewishGen guide to Slovak research, JewishGen on Slovak civil records and FamilySearch’s Slovakia church and synagogue books collection.

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Slovak Records and the Hungarian Era: Registers, Archives and Place Names