What are Baptism Registers and How Do You Recognize Them?
Baptism registers are historical or administrative records that record when an individual participates in the rite or ordinance of baptism. They can vary depending on their place and time of origin, as well as the institution that issued them, but they appear in the format of a register, or a table with the information of many records appearing on a page.
Baptism registers typically serve as a record of:
- The name of the individual baptized
- Date of baptism
- Place of baptism (church name, parish name, city name)
- Parents
- Witnesses or godparents.
Baptism registers often have a standardized format and may include:
- A ledger or register book with multiple entries per page
- Typed or handwritten entries
- Headers for the…
- Baptized person’s name
- Baptized person’s parents
- Date and place of the baptism
- Date or place of the baptized person’s birth
- Witnesses or Godparents
- Clergyman or minister who performed the baptism
Keywords in Selected Languages
English | Baptism | Name | Birthplace | Birthdate | Parents |
French | Baptême | Nom | Lieu de naissance | Date de naissance | Parents |
German | Taufe | Name | Geburtsort | Geburtsdatum | Eltern |
Spanish | Bautismo | Nombre | Local de nascimento | Fecha de nacimiento | Padres |
Italian | Battesimo | Nome | Luogo di nascita | Data di nascita | Genitori |
Portuguese | Batismo | Nome | Local de nascimento | Data de nascimento | Pais |
Dutch | Doop | Naam | Geboorteplaats | Geboortedatum | Ouders |
Russian | Крещение | Имя | Место рождения | день рождения | Родители |
Polish | Chrzest | Imię | Miejsce urodzenia | Data urodzenia | Rodzice |
Swedish | Dop | Namn | Födelseort | Födelsedatum | Föräldrar |
Natural Group
Baptism registers may be part of a larger church or parish register or archival collection. Most institutions follow a hierarchical archival system, so when digitizing baptism registers, it’s important to understand how the records are currently stored. Each separate register volume should be captured as a separate digital folder.
Descriptive Metadata
Record Type: The record type is a distinctive class of records, as defined by their use or function, used to document events. The record type(s) for an entire volume should include all record type(s) contained therein.
Date: Enter the date or date range when the records were created.
Locality: Enter the city or town where the parish or church is located.
Creator: Enter the name of the parish, church, or religious organization that created the records.
Volume: Enter the volume designation used by the archive or custodian.
Title: In the language of the records, enter the title as designated by the archive. Otherwise, enter the record title as it appears on the cover, spine, or title page of the natural group.
Custodian Reference ID: If the archive has applied a reference ID to each volume, then enter the ID in the format relevant to the archive. Enter a single hyphen (-) to indicate if no such ID exists.