Computers and your ancestry

Genealogy software
that supports Croatian letters

One of the most convenient ways to gather and organize data about our ancestry is to put the data in the computer format, so that it can be easily exchanged with other genealogists, but also, if necessary, updated and corrected.

Currently, there are about a dozen different genealogy software packages available for devoted genealogist to choose. Some of them are free, others are shareware (their authors require you to pay for their usage).

As you make considerations which of those software packages to use for organizing data about your family originating from Croatia, you have to keep in mind that:

• many surnames in Croatia have special Croatian diacritical letters in their spelling (č, ć, đ, š, ž) which got transformed to more convenient English spelling among immigrants to the USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand; however, if you look for your ancestry in Croatia, you would probably want to preserve the original spelling
• some genealogy software packages support special Croatian diacriticial letters, others do not

Here we list some of the most frequently used genealogy software packages and their capabilities.

Among beginners, Rootsmagic and Family Tree Maker are probably most often used genealogy software packages. According the new book on Croatian genealogy "Facing the Riddle of Family Tree" (available only in Croatian), Family Tree Maker is the most popular genealogy software among Croatian genealogists. It does support Croatian special letters. Rootsmagic also supports them. However, there are reporterdly some problems with special Croatian letters when genealogical files in GEDCOM format are imported into Rootsmagic.

Ancestral Quest and Personal Ancestral File have the similar origin, but the latter one is free of charge whereas the former is a shareware. Both programs support special Croatian letters, on screen and in printing reports.

Brother's Keeper and Legacy Family Tree are software packages that should probably not be used if you have Croatian ancestry, since they don't support Croatian diacritical letters.

And finally, GenoPro is a genealogy software that has some unique features, and is also the only software not just supporting Croatian letters, but is also translated into Croatian language.

All articles from Croatian genealogy web site

Female given names as a motivator for Croatian surnames A matronymic surname would be typically created using a name of a women who particularly excelled in a community, or was famous because of some fortunate or less fortunate circumstance. Tidbits of Janeš family history available online Nenad Menićanin gathered valuable data from various sources on the meaning, geography and genealogy of his ancestors, and published his findings on the internet. A new book published on the history of the noble Jelačić family Pavao Maček, a prominent Croatian historian, introduced the book "Noble clans of Jelačićs" in Zaprešić City Hall. Herzegovian village of Hardomilje and it's clans The most prominent clans and family names in the area are Bandur, Boras, Bubalo, Ćuže, Gadže, Grbavac, Ilić, Jelinić, Kravić, Mandić, Miloš, Rupčić and Vukšić. Vučetić nobility from Brinje and Senj The first mention of the Vuchetich surname can be traced back to a certain Bosnian nobleman Pribislav and his last will written at the second half of the 15th century. (14 Mar 2010) Bosnia-Herzegovina, an important area for genealogical research for Croats Vital records kept in local Catholic parishes have always been crucial in claims of Croats in the area about their identity and history. Pitomača family trees researched An interesting work about genealogy of residents of the Croatian town situated between Đurđevac and Virovitica had been published on the internet. Slavonian settlements with a significant German population By 1931, in about hundred settlements in eastern parts of Croatia lived about 20 thousand inhabitants of Germanic origin. Aristocracy of the Republic of Ragusa One of the oldest and most prominent aristocracies in the Mediterranean region had developed in 12th and 13th century in Dubrovnik region. Visiting Croatia (2): Accommodation We continue our series of articles about the country and it's people for genealogists preparing to visit Croatia and do the research. 19th century census as a source of genealogical data The oldest census in the areas of today's Croatia was performed in 1785, but the most valuable one was done in 1857. Visiting Croatia (1): Transportation If you plan to visit Croatia to do genealogy research, our series of articles on transportation, accomodation, telecommunications and the culture may help you as you prepare for the trip. Croatian genealogists invited to contribute Several interesting new colaborative internet technologies were presented in Zagreb, Croatia to those interested in research of Croatian records. Hrastovac vital records available online Up until the end of the World War II the settlement also known as Eichendorf had been a vibrant society, mostly inhabited by Germans.

By their noses shall they be recognized
Lidija Sambunjak
professional genealogist
People who want their family trees to be researched come from all around the world and it’s no wonder every one of them is different. But as special as family Sadar was, none were before them. (11 Oct 2011)