Galician Cities and Towns (Austro-Hungarian Empire)

About This Table: Historical Names of Galician Cities and Towns

This table presents the 100 largest cities and towns of historic Galicia (the former Austro-Hungarian province, now partly in western Ukraine and southern Poland) as they were known during the Austro-Hungarian Empire (late 19th–early 20th century). If you are searching for family roots in Galicia, this table will help you find places even if you know only an older, foreign, or misspelled version of a town’s name.

What does this table show?

• Each row lists a city or town by the most important historical names used in official documents, letters, maps, and vital records from different periods and languages.
• Multiple columns show names in different languages:
  • German: The official administrative language of Austria-Hungary
  • Polish: The language used by much of the local population and in local records
  • Ukrainian: The name used by the Ruthenian/Ukrainian community at the time
  • Yiddish: The spelling and pronunciation in Jewish records and community documents
  • Russian: The spelling used during the Soviet era (if applicable), or shown as a reference even if the city was never under Russian control
  • Current Name: The town’s present-day name and country (🇺🇦 Ukraine or 🇵🇱 Poland); if the town was renamed after the Austro-Hungarian period, you will see a note with the new name and the year of renaming

Why are there so many different names?

• Galicia was home to diverse communities—Ukrainians, Poles, Jews, Germans, Armenians, and others—each using their own language and spelling for local places.
• Political changes led to renaming: Towns often changed names depending on which country ruled the area (Austria-Hungary, Poland, the Soviet Union, or modern Ukraine/Poland). Official names might differ from the ones used in daily speech.
• Genealogy records may use any of these versions: Depending on your ancestor’s background, the time period, and the type of document, you might encounter any of these names, sometimes with variations in spelling.

How to use this table

• If you have an old place name from a family record, try scanning the columns in all languages. This can help you match your spelling (even if it’s slightly different) to the modern town.
• The table helps decode different spellings: For example, “Stanislau”, “Stanisławów”, “Станиславів”, and “Stanislav” all refer to today’s Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine.
• Current names and flags help locate the town today and determine which country it’s in.

Galician Cities and Towns (Austro-Hungarian Empire) – Historical and Modern Names