Many Americans who say their family is Slovak are actually Carpatho-Rusyn, from the mountain villages of eastern Slovakia and neighboring areas. Their records have a distinctive history, because their church, the Greek Catholic Church, was closed by the communist government in 1950 and restored only in 1968. This guide explains who the Rusyns are, how their church records work, where to look and what to expect. We checked these details in October 2026, and archive holdings, statistics and online collections change, so confirm them before you rely on them.
Who the Rusyns are
Immigrants from the Carpathian region called themselves Rusyn, Rusnak, Ruthene, Ruthenian, Carpatho-Russian, Carpatho-Ruthenian, Carpatho-Ukrainian and Lemko, according to the Carpatho-Rusyn heritage page of The Carpatho-Rusyn Society. Their faith is mostly Greek Catholic, which blends Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox traditions. In northeastern Slovakia road signs appear in Cyrillic, and in the easternmost part of the country dual Slovak and Rusyn place names are in use, according to a Slovak research guide.
The Greek Catholic Church
- Origins. The Union of Uzhhorod in 1646 brought the Greek Catholic Church in the territory that includes present-day eastern Slovakia into communion with Rome.
- Eparchies. The Rusyn Greek Catholic eparchies of Mukachevo and Prešov, which was erected in 1818, were incorporated into Czechoslovakia after the First World War.
- 1950. On 28 April 1950 the communist government of Czechoslovakia instituted the “Sobor of Prešov,” which shuttered the Greek Catholic Church and turned its property over to the Orthodox Church.
- 1968. The Greek Catholic Church was legalized during the Prague Spring in 1968, and parishes were allowed to restore communion with Rome.
What this did to the records
A Slovak research guide says that church records were ostensibly transferred to the local village offices in 1950, and that not all Greek Catholic records from 1895 to 1950 were preserved. For 1895 forward, civil birth, marriage and death records are kept by the village or regional government office. If a Greek Catholic family seems to disappear in the early twentieth century, the gap may be a lost register, not a missing family. Check the civil registers, the Roman Catholic books and the local registrar.
Where the records are
| Village (as listed on Wikipedia) | Greek Catholic registers at the state archive |
|---|---|
| Abranovce | 1762 to 1895 |
| Čertižné | 1819 to 1926 |
| Hrabovčík | 1870 to 1895 |
| Bystrá (Stropkov district) | 1885 to 1952 |
These examples, which come from Wikipedia’s village pages and the Prešov state archive, show that coverage varies from village to village. The Prešov archive, among others, contributed to FamilySearch’s Slovak church and synagogue books, and FamilySearch also has a collection of Greek Catholic records from western Ukraine, where Subcarpathian Ruthenia now lies.
Names and languages
- Place names. A village may have a Rusyn, a Slovak and a Hungarian name. For example, Čertižné is Чертижне in Rusyn and Nagycsertész in Hungarian.
- Cyrillic. Rusyn and Ukrainian are written in Cyrillic, so place names cannot be easily transliterated into English spellings, according to a Slovak research guide.
- Church records. Registers may be in Latin, Hungarian, Slovak or Cyrillic, depending on the period. See our guide to reading the records.
Emigration to America
Rusyns began immigrating to the United States in the late 1870s and 1880s, and about 225,000 Carpatho-Rusyn immigrants came between the 1880s and 1914, according to Wikipedia. By 1920 nearly 80 percent lived in three states: Pennsylvania (54 percent), New York (13 percent) and New Jersey (12 percent), many in the coal region around Scranton and Wilkes-Barre and in the Pittsburgh and Erie areas. Because officials did not keep separate records for each ethnic group of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, arrival records may list them under a country or a broader label. See our emigration guide.
Resources
- FamilySearch has the 1869 census of Hungary and Slovakia church records, including Greek Catholic and Roman Catholic books.
- The Carpatho-Rusyn Society offers a resource toolbox, surname and immigrant listings and a Carpatho-Rusyn Heritage DNA Project.
- The Prešov state archive holds many Greek Catholic registers for eastern Slovakia.
- The scholar Paul Robert Magocsi has published widely on the Rusyns, and the Carpatho-Rusyn Research Center sells his books.
A research routine
- Confirm the church. Greek Catholic and Roman Catholic books are separate.
- Find the village in its Rusyn, Slovak and Hungarian forms. See how to find the village of origin.
- Check FamilySearch for the parish’s Greek Catholic books and the archive that holds the originals.
- For 1895 onward, look for civil registers and ask the local registrar.
- If books are missing, try the Roman Catholic parish and the census.
- Join a society or DNA project to find cousins.
Illustrative composite (not a real family): A reader’s great-grandfather was a Greek Catholic from a village near Medzilaborce. The Greek Catholic books at the state archive run from 1819 to 1926 for a nearby parish, and he finds the baptism there. For his grandfather’s 1938 marriage, he turns to the civil register at the village office, because the church books for that period are patchy.
Learning a little Rusyn
The Carpatho-Rusyn Research Center sells language books, including Let’s Speak Rusyn in Prešov Region, Transcarpathian and Lemko Region editions, according to a Carpatho-Rusyn resource toolbox. Even a few words help you read place names and recognize a Rusyn form of a surname in a register or a letter.
Common mistakes
- Assuming a Greek Catholic family is Slovak. Many are Rusyn.
- Ignoring the 1950 gap. Records from 1895 to 1950 may be missing.
- Searching one name form. Rusyn, Slovak and Hungarian forms differ.
- Skipping the civil registers. They may fill the gap.
- Overlooking Ukraine. Records for Subcarpathian Ruthenia are there.
Continue with our regions guide and our Slovakia guide, and browse Regions, Borders & Emigration. Sources include The Carpatho-Rusyn Society’s heritage page, a Slovak research guide on church records, Wikipedia on the Slovak Greek Catholic Church, Wikipedia on Rusyn Americans and a Carpatho-Rusyn resource toolbox.
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