Finland, Communion Books, 1670-1917

Communion Books

Confirmation or Communion books were used annually to record the date on which an individual received communion in the Lutheran church, as well as their literacy levels and understanding of their faith. These records are extremely valuable as they record family groups and provide dates of birth and sometimes a place of birth. Death dates may also occasionally be included. Since Finland was a part of the Swedish kingdom in 1686, church records were kept in Swedish. Records were not kept in Finnish until after 1863, when Finnish was made an official language in Finland.

Communion books were organized by villages and then by farm and household. The same books were used every year by the priest and updated with dates of the communion for that year. Children before the age of Communion (around 14 years) are not included.

This Collection

Users may find the following details for individuals found in the communion books (where available):

• Name
• Gender
• Relation to Head
• Birth Date
• Birth Place
• Burial Date
• Death Date
• Residence

Updates:
Jul 2020: Changes were made to improve the performance of this collection. No new records were added.