Utrecht is a province in the middle of the Netherlands. It borders on Gelderland in the east, Gelderland and Zuid-Holland in the south, Zuid-Holland and Noord-Holland in the west and Noord-Holland and Flevoland in the north.

The capital city of Utrecht is called Utrecht as well. Other larger towns are:

• Amersfoort
• Zeist
• Soest
• Nieuwegein

Genealogy in Utrecht

There were no particular naming traditions in Utrecht that researchers have to take into account. People used regular last names long before the introduction of the civil registration.

Many records of the province of Utrecht are kept by the Utrechts Archief. Most of the marriage records of the civil registration from Utrecht can be found in Genlias.

Emigration from Utrecht

People in Utrecht were relatively well-to-do so the province wasn't particularly struck by any of the big emigration waves. There were quite a few entrepreneurs in the province, so there have been people who emigrated to newly founded colonies or tradeposts all over the world. In the middle of the 19th century, Utrecht members of the seceder church settled in Pella, Iowa.

Online images

There are some online resources for images of Utrecht:

• Image database Utrecht 1600-present. Fill in the name of the town or person you're looking for in 'Trefwoorden' (keywords) and press 'Zoeken' (search).
• Image database Utrecht 1970-present. Type the name of the town you're looking for in 'Plaatsnaam'.
• Utrecht legal documents 1560-1811. Type in the last name of the person you're looking for in 'Achternaam' and/or type the name of the town in 'woonplaats'.
• Utrecht provincial atlas 1865-1870. This atlas contains a map of the entire province as well as maps of all the municipalities.

Map of Utrecht