Finding your Finnish roots

There are many Finns abroad who have lost contact over generations with their relatives and ancestry. They often would like to reconnect with their roots and as an Embassy we receive a number of enquiries about this, asking for help tracking down long lost relatives.

The Embassy's ability to assist in this matter is limited as we do not keep any registers of personal information and/or contact details and are also not allowed to give out such information without the prior consent of the party in question. Furthermore, the process can become very lengthy and time consuming for all parties involved, diverting limited Embassy resources required for our daily work.

Fortunately, there are other resources available to assist you in your search.

The National Archives of Finland has helpful information in conducting a genealogy study and how to start your search here(Link to another website.).

Finland's Family History Association provides an online repository of archived materials, much of which is available to everyone free of charge. You can check it out here(Link to another website.).

The Institute of Migration in Finland maintains collections which can help when searching for emigrated relatives. Descendants of emigrants searching for their Finnish heritage may also be able to find clues there. You can find more information here(Link to another website.).

The Merikarvia Seura association is also running a project from 1 October 2016 to 30 September 2017 to assist Finns and their descendants in reconnecting with their roots in south-western Finland Pohjois-Satakunta, including the Merikarvia Parish at the shores of the Bay of Bothnia. If you would like to participate in this project you can contact them via email at [email protected]. You can find more information about the project on their website.(Link to another website.)

As mentioned above, please note that the Embassy of Finland in Canberra does not provide services in genealogy.