THE OFFICIAL WORD ON CIVIL RECORDS (VITAL RECORDS) TO BE ORDERED FROM HUNGARY : HUNGARIAN CEMETERIES , READING DEATH RECORDS, GENEALOGY RESEARCH IN HUNGARY #2

In 1895 Hungary began to require civil records (also called vital records) of deaths, marriages, and births to be kept by the government. Before that, records were to be kept by Christian churches or Jewish temples. You may be able to get both is some cases.

Privacy laws in Hungary are not the same as in the United States. Birth registers are kept closed for 90 (ninety) years. Marriage registers are kept closed for 60 (sixty) years.  Death registers are closed for 30 (thirty) years. 

And what you can order from Hungary also has to do with the map, because Hungary can only send you what is available in PRESENT DAY HUNGARY.  So you may have to find records now housed in another country.

LA CONSULATE GENERAL OF HUNGARY on ORDERING CIVIL RECORDS INCLUDING DOWNLOADABLE FORMS

If your Hungarian ancestors lived in what is now SLOVAKIA, you have to deal with Slovakia.  The site I'm linking to gives extensive information and is the work of Bill Tarkilich, to whom we are grateful.  IABSI -SLOVAKIA BILL

You may also find that your Hungarian ancestor lived in a place that became Yugoslavia, Austria, Romania... I did run into a problem when trying to retrieve Baptismal records (as a stand in for civil records) for a friend whose "Italian" family was in what was considered Yugoslavia, at the time of her grandfather's birth. The Diocese archive we contacted (in Italy) during Covid did not respond to us at all, the records were not in the Latter Day Saint's FamilySeach collection, and the local consulate was also unhelpful. She wanted Italian citizenship based on that grandfather, and I was unable to find out if Italy considers the course of history when identifying someone as Italian...

That said, it is possible that, though the place where someone was when they died is now in another country, their death record is still held by a diocese that was in Hungary at the time.

FamilySearch does have some civil death records in its database and I find searching by location is a first step.

So - If you have a very long-lived ancestor, you may just be in luck to find that when they died the civil registration was in place.  And on that death record there just might be the marriage or parentage you seek, either a confirmation of such OR new information. The civil death records also have addresses.  These may not align with current addresses...  You might want to ask when you get to tour the village!

C 2025  Magyar-American BlogSpot  All Rights Reserved including Internet and International Rights.   This genealogy series can be brought up using the tag Hungary Death Records - Gen Tips 

GENETEKA POLAND DATABASES - SEARCH FOR HUNGARIAN SURNAMES

 

Yes, there are sections of the Geneteka for Ukraine and Belarus, and it is a work in progress, but here we will link to the PODKARPAKIE province which hugs the present Slovak border - which used to be the Hungarian border.

GENETEKA POLAND DATABASE - PODKARPAKIE

Try running some names such as Szabo and Takacs... Matyas*  Balint ... Soltesz ...

THE AUSTRIAN-HUNGARIAN EMPIRE : GALICIA : CADASTRAL MAPS : HOUSE NUMBERS : HUNGARIAN GENEALOGY GEN-TIPS SERIES #1

THE AUSTRIAN-HUNGARIAN EMPIRE : GALICIA : CADASTRAL MAPS : HOUSE NUMBERS : HUNGARIAN GENEALOGY GEN-TIPS SERIES #1

This is the start of an expansive series on the Austrian-Hungarian Empire and the use of maps....  Stick with me!  There's a lot to learn together.  As with all my other Hungarian Genealogy Tips, the series name is put on each tab so you can pull it all up.

THE AUSTRIAN-HUNGARIAN EMPIRE : GALICIA : CADASTRAL MAPS : HOUSE NUMBERS

INTRODUCTION TO THIS SERIES : Austrian-Hungarian Empire - Gen Tip #1

This icon, from Graphics Fairy, is being used to designate posts for this series.

A WORD ABOUT THE HISTORY OF GALICIA, CADASTRAL MAPS, and HUNGARY.

You say, "What? I thought Magyar-American BlogSpot was all about Hungarian and Hungarian-Americans! Why are we talking about Galicia? Wasn't that in Poland?  

Well... I always advise that a genealogist research the history of the locations that they find their ancestors and use historical records hand in hand with genealogy records. A good part of Poland was part of the Austrian-Hungarian Empire.

The historical time we are focusing on and that is valuable to Hungarian researchers is when Galicia was a territory that was once owned by the Austrian Crown, and then the Austrian-Hungarian Empire. 

Austrian-Hungarian Empire

Österreichisch-Ungarische Monarchie in GERMAN

Osztrák–Magyar Monarchia in HUNGARIAN means Austrian-Hungarian Monarchy

Here's some historical background:

As a territory under the rule of  the Austrian Crown and then the Austrian-Hungarian empire, Galicia came into being in 1772, in what was called the 'first partition' (of Poland). 

GALICIA was a vast expanse, which is now south-central and south - in what is now Podkarpakie (Subcarpathia) Poland, a tiny bit of what is now Slovakia but was Hungary, and a portion of what is now western Ukraine. (It's not to be confused with the Galicia of Spain though that comes up when you use databases.) The name Galicia is supposed to have come from the word Galizien which was Halychyna in Ukrainian and Halicz in Poland. 

Galicia was already an ethnically diverse area with a Polish and Carpatho-Rusyn (Ruthenian) Slavic settlers, who were mostly Roman Catholic or "Greek" Catholic. (The Greek Catholics were not ethnically Greek but were originally converted to Christianity by Christian missionaries from Greece.) However, though mostly Catholic, there were Protestants such as Lutheran Germans.

As time went on, Galicia was a good place to settle for Jews, and the Jews who came in included some Sephardic roots Jews, who had left after being exited from Spain and Portugal, as well as the Ashkenazi 'German' Jews and Russian Jews. Over time, there came to be a became significant Jewish population, mostly merchants. 

There were other immigrations of ethnic Germans into what was Hungary, but now this wave of immigration brought them in from Austria. We find the presence of Germanic surnames in Catholic records and Germans marrying Poles. These Austrian-Germans were often also nobles, administrators, and those in a higher status than the traditionally agricultural "peasants' or the men and women who earned their living through making shoes or other useful items that took skill, craft, and artistry. 

We also find Hungarian surnames in Galicia and Polish names in Hungary.

l find that the nobility was intermarrying with nobility of other ethnicities for some time - going the distance to make a good marriage - so today there is some confusion or controversy over who was a Slovak, Polish, Ruthenian, Lithuanian, or Hungarian noble. (And some nobles were also at least partly Italian, Czech, or another ethnicity.) 

One thing you should consider is that a surname might have been changed to be more Polish, more Hungarian, more German - especially note the endings: ski, sky, skyi, szke...

Through time, there were very many incursions, raids, battles and wars fought in Galicia and for it before the Nazi's. This included the Mongols and the Tatars - who took men, women, and children into slavery and marched them into the Ottoman Empire of Turkey. It also included the Swedes, and - contrary to the thought that Poland and Hungary were "always friends"  Ferenc Rakoczi II, Prince of Transylvania, and his army also came into the Podkarpakie area, devastating towns. There were also the Russians coming into Galicia, who are now in war to take Ukraine, as Russia thinks of Ukraine as a historical part of Russia.

On old maps of GALICIA you see the Carpathian mountain range is to the south, running through what is today SLOVAKIA, but was then HUNGARY. The main trade route is from southern "trade route" towns such as Dukla, Poland, through the Dukla Pass around Cergowa, Poland, and into Hungary. Once the whole region was especially significant in the wine business with travel through the Pass into the Hungarian grape growing and wine making region. Some of the Galician market towns had wine cellars for the storage of wine brought up from Hungarian wine country. There was significant trade between Hungary and Galicia of other items as well. This meant that people who identified as Hungarian and people who identified as Polish or another ethnicity were meeting up.

So valuable was this road  through the mountains called the Dukla Pass, because it was the pass with the lowest elevation, the easiest to travel, that many thousands died in World War II trying to control it. As the intention to murder the Jews in Poland became clear, many fled Galicia and came into Hungary. As well, the Carpatho-Rusyn (Ruthenians) were also forced to move by the occupying Germans to other areas than their traditional homeland, dispersing them throughout Poland. Since their homeland included places in Hungary (now Slovakia) some fled there - moving south - rather than be moved around Poland.

Regarding World War II, the Nazi's won. They used the Dukla Pass route to invade Hungary, as one of two major routes into the country. Stories were that one day the people were in the fields and markets and the next they were - gone.

It's a difficult history.

Continue on with this series ....  

All posts in this series have the tab Austrian-Hungarian Empire - Gen Tips

C 2024-2025  Magyar American BlogSpot - All Rights Reserved including Internet and International Rights

SAINT ELIZABETH'S CATHEDRAL IN KASSA/ KOSICE MEDIEVAL EUROPE : WONDERFUL PLACES IN HUNGARY #24

MEDIEVAL HERITAGE EU : SAINT ELIZABETH'S CATHEDRAL IN KASSA / KOSICE

I wanted to mention here that this Cathedral was in Hungary for generations and that your ancestor's birth, marriage, or death records may be in Slovakia (the present country) as a result in the changes enforced after World War II.

Saint Elizabeth's cathedral is in the Gothic architecture style. This website has extensive information on the architecture of the building as it is today. It all started with a smaller church built by German settlers and dedications to other saints, such as Saint Michael. It might have been a Slavic- Greek Orthodox church dedicated to Saint Nicholas as well. Eventually a larger and more important structure was built.

Excerpt: Beginning of construction of the church of St. Elizabeth probably began around 1390. King Sigismund of Luxemburg, Bishop of Eger, and especially wealthy townspeople with the town council were involved in this work. In addition, in 1392 and 1402, Pope Boniface IX issued bulls, thanks to which all pilgrims who contributed to the construction of the church had their sins forgiven, and the relic of Christ’s blood could be kept in the church. The first stage of construction work lasted until around 1420. During it, the perimeter walls of the nave and the first two floors of the western towers were erected. In the years 1420-1440, the octagonal superstructure of the Sigismund’s tower was made and the walls of the nave were raised. During this period, the remains of the old church of St. Michael, which was somehow enclosed with new walls, were finally demolished.

Click on the label Wonderful-Hungary to bring up all posts on this theme.

LIPTO as a HUNGARIAN PLACE

This video presents postcards of Hungarian Lipto County, which is now Liptov, Slovakia, but still has a Hungarian majority. Beautiful mountains and interesting architecture!  Part of many a Hungarian-American's heritage. The poster, Sicambria, has some other videos up that are also interesting.

That said, for hundreds of years people of various ethnic backgrounds, Slovaks, Germans, and others, lived in this area, and many intermarried. Religious differences payed out too.  The Germans were mostly Catholics and many but not all were from Southern Germany. Some of the Slovaks were Greek Catholic, as were the Carpathian Rus (Also called Rusyns) and Ukrainians.

There are controversies over the nobility and who was or was not of original Hungarian ancestry or really Slovak or Czech.  

Lipto is an area where Bogamar, one of the sons of one of the original Magyar tribal chiefs, Hauk Palko, who came into Hungary, spawned. There are a number of surnames associated with nobility coming out of this area and those lineages. You can use Hungaricana databases for the Marie Theresa Urbariam and see.

Most Americans who are "2nd" or "3rd" generations since immigration here are mixed heritage.  I know someone who is 3rd generation on one side and 4th on the other who has claim to 16 different European ethnicities!  (What fun her genealogy searches could be!)

So I tend to think people are the ethnicity they feel themselves to be, that they feel they can relate to and feel comfortable with.  And of course, our surnames tell the world about one of our ethnicities and it is from our surnames that other people assume what our ethnic identity is.

C 2023 Magyar American BlogSpot

NOBILITY IN YOUR HUNGARIAN FAMILY? THE NAGY BIBLE OF NOBILITY : GENEALOGY PRO TIP #2

NOBILITY IN YOUR HUNGARIAN FAMILY? THE NAGY BIBLE OF NOBILITY  : GENEALOGY PRO TIP #2

Some large American city libraries have the series of books published by Ivan Nagy that give some detail about many of the noble families of Hungary.

There are some generational charts and some Heraldry in the collection. However, connection from your American family to these nobles is still iffy and hobbyist genealogists should hold themselves to professional standards and not turn family rumors, guesswork or leaps of faith into charts - especially not posting to one or many databases or on-line website charts. I see so many without documentation all over (like a virus) and when I see that I think "well maybe but until I see the documents this is a time waster." (I've seen some with infuriating inaccuracies.)

Now I recently found Nagy's volume that contains letters T through Z in Google Books and found a couple families of interest but believe me until I had a breakthrough a couple years ago I had absolutely no idea there might be a connection to two noble families in what is now Slovakia. Like many of you, missing records are a frustrating for me.

It seems other volumes of Nagy's work are here and there and some are missing indexes in the end. Published in 1863 and titled "The Noble Families of Hungary, Their Coats Of Arms and Generation Tables" it's called a Bible. But believe me it is not. It can be helpful or encouraging but your documents must go back at least till 1869 or earlier to find this useful. That said, sometimes we can find the links we seek going forwards from the earlier dates on generational charts. Nobility cared to keep track of lineage and so there is a chance of such charts substituting for missing church records.

Here's the negatives:

First, while a well regarded collection, it does not contain each and every Noble Hungarian person or family.

Second, it's in Hungarian and you may need a translation. (I have yet to figure out how to cut and paste from the PDF into a translator.)

Third, many charts do not include the women or only have given names of women. 

I have no way of knowing if a person named as a child but not showing marriage or offspring died without issue or the chart is incomplete.

Fourth, it cannot possibly include anyone born after 1869. 

Recall 1848 is when the Hungarian Revolution ended nobility privledges though not social status. (The freeing of the serfs also meant that many with estate owners could no longer afford to hold onto their estates. An agricultural way of life was ending. 

However, you can check the 1828 census to see if a person or family, listed by the name of the head of the family, had any "slaves." You can see the diversity of holdings in the Marie Theresa census.*

For some Hungarian Americans missing Hungarian census and other records may make it impossible, but don't give up too soon. 

Keep reading.

C 2021- 2025 Magyar-American BlogSpot  All Rights Reserved Including Internet and International Rights

This post is part of a series on Hungarian Nobility research. Gen Tips - Hungarian Nobility in the Family 

*Search this blog for lots of information on the 1828 census (available on Familysearch) and the Marie Theresa census (available through Hungaricana).

See the post connected to this series that brings up a link to find the IVAN NAGY BOOKS DIGITALIZED AND ON LINE FREE WITH INTERNET ARCHIVE.

MAP UKRAINE SLOVAKIA POLAND

Yes there were ethnic Hungarians who lived in what is now Ukraine.

HOW ARE YOU COPING WITH THE CORONAVIRUS-19, PROTESTS - LIFE?

Comments is on.  How are YOU?

I'm OK, but I realize this is situational.  I currently live far from the protest centers  where violence and mayhem have ruined, in my opinion, the peaceful protest which was supposed to be called for by the BLACK LIVES MATTER movement.  The destruction is abhorrent to me.  I believe these destroyers are criminals and there aren't prisons enough for them.  I don't want anyone like that in my life. 

I'm relatively safe. This doesn't mean I'm not concerned.  I live in a multi racial and multi ethnic neighborhood and I worry that suddenly it won't be peaceful and safe here. Some people in the area have resisted covering their nose and mouth with masks, which I sensed was a protest earlier.  I hate wearing one but I do it. 

I also read about what's happening in Hungary - as well as Poland and Slovakia. 

In general, currently, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia, are much more conservative countries than the United States is.

What is conservative or liberal is a question, I realize. I consider myself to be a person who tries to see all sides and tends to be moderate - liberal on some issues and conservative on others. 

In general the United States does accommodate more diversity and has more prosperity.  That said, the United States has not experienced World War I or World War II on it's own turf and is not struggling to maintain a national identity. 

Back in the day, I used to overhear American who considered themselves to be Patriots, respond to destructive people, by saying "They should go back where they came from" or "If they hate America so much, why don't they leave - find some other country that will take them?" 

That is easier said than done.  Most people don't have so much mobility.  And no country wants incoming criminals.

How can you peaceably speak up for yourself, your people, and help guide your country the right way, if you aren't running for political office yourself?

VOTING is something that so many people neglect to do.  This year we celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the right to vote for women in the United States.  It was fought for and yet so many people don't bother. The turn out for some elections is a bad joke.  This is a basic right, a basic way of making your needs and opinions heard.  It takes some research and some thinking to decide who to vote for if you do not wish to be dictated to by a political party preference.  As you know if you read this blog, I was/am a Bernie Sanders fan. He left the campaign and Joe Biden is the default Democratic candidate. It's my guess that he will chose a woman as his running mate and I suspect she will be Kamala Harris of California. It would be the politically-correct thing to do, although I hope Biden will make his choice based on a person's ability first.

For those of you interested in African American (Black) voting rights in the United States, here is a good history link: 15th AMENDMENT - AFRICAN AMERICAN VOTING RIGHTS

WILD CARPATHIA SERIES - CHARLIE OTTLEY - FASCINATING

Here's the first in the series. Found this so fascinating. Bears - Wolves - Medieval settlements - and covering an expanse as large as Great Britain.

If you like it, you can find the rest of the series on YouTube (until I get around to posting it all!)

A GUIDE TO HISTORY OF REFORM PROTESTANT CHURCH in SLOVAKIA- ZEMPLEN COUNTY

http://www.refzem.eu/ REFORM CHURCHES ZEMPLEN / SLOVOKIA  translates to English on Google.

I found this site searching for historical information on Nagy Geres and Kis Geres.  I found it to be a fascinating site because it has story of various village and town churches that were in Zemplen County, Hungary that are also in Slovakia now.  I was able to learn that possibly a town fire may be the reason why I may not be able to get the marriage and birth records I've been periodically checking for through FamilySearch.com, Ancestry.com, etc, for a few years. 

One never knows if possibly a transcription project has stalled or if the records were never filmed for microfilm or moved to databases. Possibly the records are in Hungary or Slovakia.

So let me explain that I have often been accused of "extreme genealogy," and that I have research tactics most people do not or would not even think of doing.

What I did years ago was read all the records for 200 years of a certain Catholic church, where I found a second marriage in the Catholic church and the marriages of children in the Catholic church, but no evidence of a first marriage or the grandparent's birth in the same Church.

It was convincing to me (and still is) that this was a Catholic family.  But as there is also a Reform church in that town - and the records for it seem not to be available, I had to think "well MAYBE they were not baptized Catholic or married Catholic."

What I did that was extreme was keep track of who was living in certain house numbers.  I learned that there probably wasn't anyone from this branch of the family living in the village before 1865.  And so they were either Protestant or living elsewhere.

Living in the same dwelling are a couple with the same surname but with a 16 year age difference, which to me means that the person 16 years older is probably not the father. And due to his name and age, I would suspect he was on a 2nd marriage and was a first son in a family.  So maybe an uncle?  But I can't find this couple married in any records available in databases.

Now that I learned that one of the villages mentioned on a naturalization had a fire about then, I'm thinking that they moved due to that fire and the records went up in flames.

Luckily the brick wall may not have tumbled, but I have so many more lines to follow!

C 2018 Magyar American BlogSpot

ARISTOCRACTIC ASSOCIATION OF SLOVAKIA

ARISTOCRATIC ASSOCIATION OF SLOVAKIA (in English)  ARE YOU INTERESTED IN REGISTERING YOUR NOBILITY WITH THIS ANTI-COMMUNIST GROUP?   You don't have to be Slovak.  Just remember that American Citizens do not have titles, give up the right to titles upon citizenship, but you might ask if you can use them when traveling in Europe!

EXCERPTS

The registration in the Noble Register of the Aristocratic Association of Slovakia accepts the strict rules of noble traditions. It is possible to make registration only after presentation of complete prescribed documents (genealogical and historical), which confirm the appurtenance to the noble status. On the other hand, Ministry of Interior of the Slovak Republic officially approved the Statute of the Aristocratic Association of Slovakia, with the right to certify and confirm the justness of using the noble titles. The Certificate about the noble origin, issued by our Association, is accepted by democratic administrative system and its authorities.

Today we are the only noble organization in the east European countries, which has established and carries the Noble Register. This has brought us the attention of many aristocrats from different European countries, especially form the post-communistic countries. They ask for the confirmation of their nobility through the registration in our Noble register, or they ask for help or advice. So it is happened, that our Association incidentally has got into the function as a central co-ordination workplace for the question of renew of the noble status.

A last point we would like to mention is that the Aristocratic Association of Slovakia is relatively small organization. Today we have about 40 members, 17 of them are registered in our Noble register. The others provide the necessary genealogical documents step by step, and they are in the waiting period. The candidate cannot use his noble title before the registration in Noble register.

SLOVAKIA GENEALOGY RESOURCES : A GREAT WEB SITE FOR GENEALOGISTS WORKING ON TERRITORY PRESENTLY CALLED SLOVAKIA

IABSI - SLOVAKIA GENEALOGY RESOURCES

FROM THE SITE: "My geographic focus is on Eastern Slovakia (Slovak Republic) / formerly Czechoslovakia / formerly Upper Hungary.  Primary research areas include the peoples and lands in the Carpathian mountains and immediate borderlands of Southern Poland (Galicia) and Western Ukraine (Carpatho-Rus).  As Slovakia was a component of pre-1918 Hungary, much information about "old Hungary" is contained herein and will be useful for any pre-1918 Hungary research."

***

This sight is a great place to look for small settlements in relationship to larger ones so that you can mine the 1869 and other Hungarian Census (which in the LDS catalogue is under Slovakia). The idea is to find that settlement's municipality first.

Apparently the full census of all the counties of 1969 Hungary are not filmed and/or digitalized to be used on databases or the Internet.  However the 1869 census can be very important in your research because the SURNAMES are given (including the maiden surname of wives different from their husbands), birth years, occupations, and a list of occupants of a dwelling including grandparents, boarders, farm help, and so on.

I have to admit my own research is stuck here.  I'm looking for a male who says on his naturalization that he was born in 1847 but who on census and marriage records seems to be taking a few years off his age.  So he was born say anywhere from 1847 to 1850.  (Though it was common for 40ish widowers to marry town "spinsters" (women not married by say, 22) he seemed rather determined to be only 38 when he married a second time.

I looked to find his village on this site and it was identified as in the Bodrogkoz municipality.  However, using FamilySearch, there were only about 43 images counting maybe about 12 family groups, none who had his surname or any other surname I associate with the family.  Which means that he might have been born in the area about 20-22 years earlier but there is no sign of them right there.  Maybe another village in this same county?

Further I think, based on a deep analysis of house numbers in the small town in which he lives the rest of his life until coming to the U.S., that he did not get to that town until about the same time, 1869.  In 1869 another family is living in the house and I don't see any relationship with them.   He could be there living in but there is no record of him until his first marriage on church records. It's as if he moved to begin working as an adult in another town just when the census was happening...

This one takes patience, travel, synchronicities, or acceptance of a brick wall.

A DATABASE TO LOCATE HUNGARIAN NOBILITY BY COUNTY thanks to HUNGARY EXCHANGE (see update re link)

Gen Tips - Hungarian Nobility in the Family

NOTE SEPTEMBER 2022.  I've checked the internet for Hungary Exchange and it does not seem to be up or operational.  I have a series of Pro Genealogy Tips here at MAGYAR-AMERICAN BLOGSPOT that may be helpful to you, and you can bring it up using the tag/label above.  Click on it and it should bring up the series on Nobility.

I also feature a good number of other Genealogy Tip series here.  As well there are many useful links on the sidebar if you're interested in working on your personal research.

C 2022 Magyar American BlogSpot.

HERE IS THE ORIGINAL POST FOR THE DATE 7/15/2014

HUNGARY EXCHANGE DATABASES example ZEMPLEN COUNTY NOBILITY  This site is down.

NOTE MAY 2022  TRYING THIS LINK https://www.ongenealogy.com/listings/hungary-exchange/

and this http://nickmgombash.blogspot.com/

This is a very cool database because just about everything you're looking for to verify nobility of an ancestor is completely in Hungarian but this one first breaks the searching into English for the Counties and the English Alphabet.  I've linked to Zemplen County Nobility which I believe I may link to based on surnames.  No, nowhere near proving any of this, but a naturalization record just proofed that an ancestor was born in Geres.  There was Big (Nagy) Geres and Little (Kis) Geres, both about the same on today's map of Slovakia with a name change.

The changing borders of central and eastern Europe, multiple ethnicity and religions long in place before emigration to other countries, and the use of Latin, Hungarian, Slovak, Ruthenian, and German, as well as abbreviations and usage of words no longer used and slang can make genealogy research for your Hungarian ancestors especially challenging.  One notation I gave to several Hungarians,  both tourists and people who had left there after WWI and in 1956 turned out to be entirely abbreviated.  No one could crack it, no dictionary I could use helped, until an expert at the Salt Lake City, LDS Family History library did.

(Take if from me.  American Genealogy is easy in comparison.)

Picture below is from Hungary Exchange database, name chosen at random and appears to be written in Latin.

Anyway, look to see if your surname is in place from the county you know the emigration took place from first, then other localities.   Even if you can't make a claim to nobility, it's fun.

One of the reasons genealogists look for nobility in a family tree is because only nobility is documented past say, 1711, when you'll see that the Hapsburgs are ruling and ordering the churches to keep records, even in some places for people who are not of the religion keeping the records. But if you can go back to 1711 as an American today you're doing really well.

https://www.hungaryexchange.com/ UPDATED LINK JUNE 2018

UPDATE APRIL 2023  Here is a list of Hungarian Noble Surnames from  PURDUE LIBRARY PURDUE LIBRARY DOCS : DOWNLOADABLE LIST OF HUNGARIAN NOBLE SURNAMES

BRATISLAVA COUNTY NOBILITY BLOG IS INFORMATIVE AND BEAUTIFUL - ADDED TO MY LIST!

BRATISLAVA COUNTY NOBILITY  a wonderful and informative and beautiful blog with a lot of links for those of you who have Hungarian in Slovakia or Hungarian-Slovakian ancestry!

LINK UPDATED  July 2019

FOWLER MUSEUM LOS ANGELES : SOUTHEASTERN EUROPEAN DRESS EXHIBIT NOT TO BE MISSED

This is a great opportunity for those of you who live in Southern California or who are here to do research for your family history or are going to visit Hollywood.  FOWLER MUSEUM at UCLA is off the tourist trap route, and until July 14, 2013 they have an exhibit you'll want to see. 

This museum is always free, on the UCLA campus which you can get to by bus if you want to avoid the $11 parking fee, and is open Wednesday through Sunday from noon till 5, with Thursdays being open until 8 PM.

RESPLENDENT DRESS FROM SOUTH EASTERN EUROPE features clothing that girls and women spent hundreds - thousands - of hours hand sewing, embroidering, and decorating, so that they could participate in the village dances.  We think of these dances, and these clothes as "costumes," now but they did have a purpose then - Guess what?

EXCERPT :

"Bright red fringe in particular ― a feature originally evolved from the string skirts of the Paleolithic era ― stood out at dances as a symbol of fertility when worn by young women of marriageable age. Today, this dress continues to be worn on festive occasions and by older people in rural areas. In addition, folk festivals featuring dance performances ― popular with both locals and tourists ― have stimulated a revival in the wearing of regional dress. As such, dress, dance and music continue to be a mainstay of life for many."

OK, if you were walking down a street in the Old Country you could tell what ethnic group and class another person was by their dress.  Like in India today; women wear saris that identify them.

EXCERPT:

"Resplendent Dress From Southeastern Europe" features 50 stunning 19th- to 20th-century ensembles from Macedonia, Croatia, Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Kosovo, Serbia, Hungary, the Slovak Republic, the Czech Republic, Montenegro and Romania ― nearly all from the Fowler Museum's substantial collection ― plus 100 individual items, including aprons, vests, jackets and robes. To complement the outstanding examples of women's dress, the exhibition also includes several men's garments."

GROUPS OF ETHNICITY IN HUNGARY : The History and Present-day Organization of Hungarian Ethnology

"Reaching over present-day borders, partly from geographical, partly from historical consideration, we can divide that part of the Carpathian Basin into four large sections where the mother tongue of the people who live there is Hungarian. Transdanubia (the Dunántúl) is the western territory bordered by the Danube and the Dráva rivers, and there are also smaller Hungarian areas in Austria. Upper Hungary (the Felföld) contains the northern hill and mountain area and reaches into Slovakia. The Great Plain (Alföld) is the central plain of the Carpathian Basin, which continues into Yugoslavia on the south. The Hungarian ethnic groups of Transylvania (Erdély) in places even sweep through the crest of the Eastern Carpathians. We will follow this geographical division in the following chapters." Just a tiny excerpt from a paper entitled "The History and Present-day Organization of Hungarian Ethnology. "

HUNGARIAN CITIZENSHIP OPEN TO THOSE HUNGARIANS WHO WERE LEFT LIVING IN ANOTHER COUNTRY AFTER 1920

"Citizenship "is a form of symbolic relationship - recognition that after 90 years of living without Hungary we maintain our identity, we value our mother tongue..."

Officially Romania has about 1.5 million ethnic Hungarians.

Southern Slovakia is home to roughly 500,000 ethnic Hungarians, about a tenth of the country's population.

More than 250,000 ethnic Hungarians also live in Serbia

Link to the BBC news article from January 2011 explaining the changes.