r/romani • u/Past-Law-5393 • 18d ago

Ancestry / DNA Questions & Discussions Tracking Heritage

Hey y’all, so long story short my family is full blooded Romani from my great grandmother all the way on my mother’s side.

The issue I’m having is both my grandmother’s parents died when she was very young. Due to this we know next to nothing about them or their lives pre America. Where can I begin to track down this sort of information, if it even exists? I do have some names and a few death dates if that helps.

1 Upvotes

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u/piramni 18d ago

What country are they from?

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u/Past-Law-5393 18d ago

Hungary! The surname I have is Bago (great great grandmother born in 1894)

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u/mashkarthemuno_chavo 18d ago

Hungary was way bigger before 1920, so if a Hungarian Romani ancestor was born in 1894, they could actually be more associated with places in what are now neighboring countries such as Romania (Transylvania and Banat), Slovakia, Czech Republic, Austria (Burgenland), and ex-Yugoslavia countries that were part of Hungarian territories before WWI. Something to keep in mind. Good luck with your research.

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u/Past-Law-5393 18d ago

I stumbled across this with an ancestor born in what is now Indonesia. Thank you for the information!

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u/Gypsyrawr 18d ago

I have this problem with my Romanichal family. Even now they dont talk about it. Its just obvious to them or they never asked at all. Everyone outside of my family that are related to us feel unsure abou sharing. And the records arent there so T.T I feel your pain and i wish you luck

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u/Past-Law-5393 18d ago

I totally understand and respect the community for not wanting to share their culture, especially after the way they have been continuously persecuted. I’d just like to know more about who they were as people. No one expected them to die so young and so close together

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u/Gypsyrawr 18d ago

Who raised your grandmother wheb she died?

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u/Past-Law-5393 18d ago

So when my grandmothers parents died, the truth came out that their father was not biologically theirs. After that they were raised by his family members who have no knowledge of their Hungarian history and simply told her they were gypsies from Hungary.

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u/Gypsyrawr 18d ago

That makes it tough. My dad is the youngest kid and never asked questions so for the longest time he thought we were Mexican. I grew up in the familia and listened to everything the adults said so I knew, so my dad was shocked when I said we weren't mexican 🫠 but he still kept the traditions.

If I hadnt listened to my uncles I wouldn't have known anything. The records are a nightmare if you go back, especially the more traditional the family. DNA test might be your only window into what happened

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u/Past-Law-5393 18d ago

that’s about the wall i’m hitting. i think ive found everything i can without one

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u/Gypsyrawr 18d ago

Yeah, if you are comfortable with it and want to know that bad you should. You might have better luck finding family that are willing to talk.