Greek Military Enlistment Rolls
Here are some tips on using the Greek Military Enlistment Rolls
I recently had my library order Microfilm from the LDS Family History Library - “List of those who are called to enlist in the army by counties, district and municipalities” published in the Greek Government Gazette. (Microfilm #1462001 covers years 1884 – 1888; Microfilm # 1462002 covers years 1889 – 1892)
These rolls contain copies of the Greek Government Gazette’s (newspapers) – See photograph. Each issue of a newspaper covers a single ΝΟΜΟΣ (Region). It then lists names of men who are being called to enlist in the army by each ΕΠΑΡΧΙΑ (Province) and ΔΗΜΟΣ (Municipality) within each Region.
At a minimum you will need to know which ΝΟΜΟΣ (Region) your relatives are from and be able to recognize the spelling in Greek capital letters. You should be able to find this information with a Google search of the area you are interested in.
Example:
ΝΟΜΟΣ ΛΑΚΩΝΙΑΣ (Lakonias)
ΝΟΜΟΣ ΑΡΚΑΔΙΑΣ (Arkadias)
Even though the lists of names are further broken down into the ΕΠΑΡΧΙΑ (Province) and ΔΗΜΟΣ (Municipality), I personally found it fruitful to look through the entire ΝΟΜΟΣ for my relative’s names, reasoning that marriages took place between different villages and there could be relatives scattered about.
You will need to have a general idea of how your family’s Surname is spelled in Greek. The reason I say “general idea” is because just like in other genealogy research, you may find that the name is actually spelled a little differently. As usual have an open mind.
Sit down with the “Transliteration Chart” and write down possible spellings in Greek. (Note: Take the chart with you to the library to use as a reference).
TIP # 1 - The Surname is the first name listed –
Εxample: Βατοπούλης Κωνσταντινος Γεωργίου
Vatopoulis Konstadinos Georgiou (English Translation)
TIP # 2 – Some Surnames are listed with “Nicknames”
– Someone recently informed me that “In many villages, many people are known mainly with their nickname. In fact, many nicknames have become last names, while other have not. In the latter case, if the person was really known with his nickname, or if there were many people with the same name (in the Pelloponese there is a village where every single inhabitant has the last name Στεφανόπουλος (English translation Stefanopoulos)), then the nickname would become predominant.
Example of how Surnames and Nicknames look in the listings:
Τσαρπόπουλοσ ή Τσούνης Βασιλειος Νικολάου
Tsarpopoulos or Tsounis Vasileios Nikolaou (English Translation)
Tip # 3 – Last but not least. My father and his two brothers had an aunt they referred to as “thea Lakos” (aunt Lakos). That was one of the names I had on my mind while searching through these Military Enlistment Rolls. What I noticed was that there wasn’t anyone from the area with the name Lakos (Λακος), but there were plenty of names that ended with Lakos (λακος). My Lakos must be a shortened version of another name.
A few examples: Αποστολάκος Apostolakos
Πουλάκος Poulakos
Καβουλάκος Kavoulakos
Μιχαλάκος Mikalakos
Βασιλάκος Vasilakos
One last thing – HAVE PATIENCE, YOU CAN DO IT !
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