Lack of Access to public records
Being Half Cypriot, I have more than a vested interest in understanding Cypriot Genealogy as well as researching it for my own personal purposes. When I started looking into the Cypriot side of my heritage, I had no idea how difficult it would be to access important records that are available in the public domain in other countries. We take for granted how easily we can access Birth, Marriage, Death and Census records here as well as many sources of information.
In comparison in the UK and US, access to such records is comparably easy. Cyprus is still behind where public records are concerned. This makes searching for information more than difficult. Especially with the generations using a Patrynomic system that means the same Surnames do not pass down through the generations (except for a few examples).
There are ‘Οικογενειακά’ or ‘Family’ books which belong to villages, mostly out of print , mostly in Greek. I have used these to build up areas of my tree where families overlap.
I have spent several years building Databases with tens of thousands of names of Cypriots to support research from various sources. I use these tools as part of my research alongside DNA analysis.
What Cypriot Family History Research CAN be done?
Firstly, I cannot emphasise more the importance of learning information from our own relatives and village elders on our ancestry. This seems to fly in the face of what would be recommended for other cultures in Genealogy. We are taught that first we listen to the stories of our relatives, but that we should treat those stories with the largest pinches of salt. This is not totally untrue, these stories do form the baseline from which we may choose to challenge them or seek out evidence to support them. But they also offer useful genealogical nuggets of info which can help build a bigger picture. The more of these nuggets you can collect and put together, the best chance you have of building a bigger, broader, more stable tree.
Secondly, There are SOME records available out there. You can contact the State Archives in various Districts of Cyprus and request information. I also visit the State Archives twice a year and have amassed a large number of record collections for research and can do research there on your behalf.
State Archives contact information
There are also Facebook groups for Cypriot Genealogy which are incredibly helpful for ancestral research, as well as Facebook groups for Cypriot Villages where you might find elders who know more about your family.
I would also recommend subscribing to the Cypriot Genealogical Database project run by Matt Ellsworth on his Radix Mundi site: https://www.radixmundi.com/resources The database is a culmination of records and sources painstakingly researched by Matt and his various other contributors, of Cypriots over the few centuries. It is a valuable source of information.
How can I help with Cypriot Genealogy?
With several years of experience of tracing family in Cyprus, I am well-positioned to try and help you find out more about your ancestral roots. There is no guarantee at this time of finding all areas of Cypriot ancestry, but there is a good chance if you have done your DNA tests via Ancestry / 23andMe / MyHeritage / LivingDNA, that your matches will give you an indication of where your ancestry comes from. I would be more than happy to help you with your discovery journey.
Chronicology 