Burial Registers • FamilySearch Support Operations

What is a Burial Register and How Do You Recognize One?

Burial registers are official records documenting the burial of individuals, typically maintained by church or municipal cemeteries. These registers are valuable for verifying death and burial information. They can be handwritten or printed, depending on the time period and location and are usually organized by date in a table format with column headings.

If the burial register is part of a larger parish register that includes baptisms and marriages, then use the record type “Parish Registers” and follow the instructions here.

Burial registers will often include:

Name of the deceased
Date of burial
Age at death
Place of burial
Residence or parish
Cause of death (sometimes)
Officiating clergy (in church records)

Keywords

Here is a comprehensive list of common English terms and their equivalents in the languages wherein these records are written, using terminology typically found on historical or official documents.

English	Greek	Arabic	Chinese	Japanese	Korean
Burial Register	Μητρώο Ταφών	سجل الدفن	埋葬登记	埋葬登録	매장 등록부
Burial Record	Καταγραφή Ταφής	سجل الجنازة	埋葬记录	埋葬記録	매장 기록
Interment Record	Καταγραφή Ενταφιασμού	سجل الدفن	安葬记录	埋葬記録	매장 기록
Death and Burial	Θάνατος και Ταφή	الوفاة والدفن	死亡与埋葬	死亡と埋葬	사망 및 매장
Cemetery Register	Μητρώο Νεκροταφείου	سجل المقبرة	墓地登记	墓地登録	묘지 등록부
Grave Register	Μητρώο Τάφων	سجل القبور	墓穴登记	墓所登録	무덤 등록부
Parish Register	Ενοριακό Μητρώο	سجل الرعية	教区登记	教区簿	교구 등록부
Register of Burials	Κατάλογος Ταφών	سجل الدفن	埋葬名册	埋葬簿	매장 명부
Burial Entry	Καταχώρηση Ταφής	إدخال الدفن	埋葬条目	埋葬記入	매장 항목
Buried on	Ετάφη στις	دُفن في	埋葬于	埋葬日	매장일
Interred	Ενταφιάστηκε	تم دفنه	安葬	埋葬された	매장됨
Finnish	Czech	Romanian	Turkish	French	German
Hautausrekisteri	Rejstřík pohřbů	Registru de înmormântări	Defin Kayıt Defteri	Registre d’inhumation	Bestattungsregister
Hautausmerkintä	Záznam o pohřbu	Înregistrare de înmormântare	Defin Kaydı	Acte d’inhumation	Bestattungsurkunde
Hautausasiakirja	Záznam o uložení	Înregistrare de înhumare	Gömü Kaydı	Registre d’enterrement	Beisetzungsregister
Kuolema ja hautaus	Úmrtí a pohřeb	Deces și înmormântare	Ölüm ve Defin	Décès et inhumation	Tod und Beerdigung
Hautausmaan rekisteri	Rejstřík hřbitova	Registrul cimitirului	Mezarlık Kayıt Defteri	Registre du cimetière	Friedhofsregister
Hautarekisteri	Rejstřík hrobů	Registrul mormintelor	Mezar Kayıt Defteri	Registre des tombes	Grabregister
Seurakuntarekisteri	Farní rejstřík	Registrul parohial	Parish Kayıt Defteri	Registre paroissial	Kirchenbuch
Hautausluettelo	Seznam pohřbů	Registrul înmormântărilor	Defin Kayıtları	Registre des inhumations	Verzeichnis der Beerdigungen
Hautausmerkintä	Zápis o pohřbu	Înregistrare înmormântare	Defin Girişi	Entrée d’inhumation	Eintrag zur Beerdigung
Haudattu	Pohřben dne	Înmormântat la	Defnedildiği Tarih	Inhumé le	Beerdigt am
Haudattu	Pohřben	Înhumat	Defnedildi	Inhumé	Beigesetzt
Spanish	Italian	Dutch	Polish	Latin	Portuguese
Registro de entierros	Registro di sepoltura	Begraafregister	Rejestr pochówków	Registrum sepulturae	Registro de sepulturas
Acta de entierro	Atto di sepoltura	Begrafenisakte	Akt zgonu i pochówku	Acta sepulturae	Registro de óbito
Registro de inhumación	Registro di inumazione	Register van bijzettingen	Rejestr pochówków	Acta inhumationis	Registro de inumação
Defunción y entierro	Morte e sepoltura	Overlijden en begrafenis	Śmierć i pochówek	Mors et sepultura	Morte e sepultamento
Registro del cementerio	Registro del cimitero	Begraafplaatsregister	Rejestr cmentarny	Registrum coemeterii	Registro do cemitério
Registro de tumbas	Registro delle tombe	Grafregister	Rejestr grobów	Registrum sepulcrorum	Registro de túmulos
Registro parroquial	Registro parrocchiale	Parochieregister	Księga parafialna	Liber paroecialis	Registro paroquial
Registro de entierros	Registro delle sepolture	Register van begrafenissen	Rejestr pochówków	Index sepulturarum	Registro de sepultamentos
Entrada de entierro	Voce di sepoltura	Begrafenisvermelding	Wpis pochówku	Inscriptio sepulturae	Lançamento de sepultura
Enterrado el	Sepolto il	Begraven op	Pochowany dnia	Sepultus die	Sepultado em
Inhumado	Inumato	Bijgezet	Pochowany	Inhumatus	Inumado

Natural Group

When digitizing burial registers, all parts of one book/register should be captured together in the same digital folder and share the same descriptive metadata.

Descriptive Metadata

The metadata describes all the images in the natural group. Check the natural group cover, then spine, then inner pages, including the title page, for the metadata:

Date: Enter the Burial Year.
Locality: Enter the city wherein the cemetery is located.
Creator: Using the language of the records, enter the name of the cemetery.
Volume: Enter the volume designation code assigned to the book by the cemetery.
Title: Using the language of the records, enter the respective title for the entire register.
Custodian Reference ID: These records don’t typically have a custodian reference ID. Enter a single hyphen (-) to indicate no such ID exists. If these records are being captured at an archive, and the archive applied a reference ID to each volume, then enter the ID in the format relevant to the archive.