Mexico, Guanajuato, Civil Registration - FamilySearch Historical Records

What is in This Collection?
This collection of civil records for Guanajuato Mexico covers the inclusive years of 1862 to 1930. They are birth, marriages, and death records, organized by state and then by municipality/city. Earlier records were handwritten in narrative style; later records were handwritten in formatted registers. The text of these records is in Spanish.

Civil records in Mexico cover about 90 to 95 percent of the population. Beginning in 1859, the Mexican government began requiring births, marriages, and deaths to be recorded by civil authorities on a municipality/district level. Although these records are a great source of genealogical information, they are not complete as civil registration wasn't strictly enforced in Mexico until 1867 and people did not always comply. For this reason, church registers must be used alongside the civil records. The civil records of Mexico have been preserved relatively well. Only some of the older registers may have some physical damage. However, in general they are in good condition to extract genealogical information.

The Mexican civil registration was created to record the vital events of birth, marriage, death, and other civil events, which would determine and prove the civil status, existence, and condition of the population.

Reading These Records
These records are written in Spanish; also see the section For Help Reading These Records for translation helps.

What Can These Records Tell Me?
The following information may be found in these records:

Birth Records
 * Date and place of the event
 * Name of the principal
 * Child’s gender
 * Child’s date of birth
 * Legitimacy
 * Parents' names, residence, and/or place of origin
 * Names of witnesses

Marriage Records
 * Date and place of the event
 * Names of the bride and groom
 * Their civil statuses (widowed, single, divorced) at the time of the event
 * Place of origin and residence of the bride and groom
 * Names of parents
 * Name of witnesses

Death Records
 * Place and date of the event
 * Place and date of death
 * Name of the principal (deceased)
 * Civil status of principal at time of death
 * Civil status and name of spouse, if married at time of death
 * Parents' names
 * Sometimes included place of burial

How Do I Search This Collection?
Before using this collection it is helpful to know:
 * Your ancestor's given name and surname
 * Identifying information such as residence
 * Estimated marriage or birth year

View the Images
View images in this collection by visiting the 


 * 1) Select State
 * 2) Select City or Municipality
 * 3) Select Record Type and Years to view the images.

For Help Reading These Records
For help reading these Spanish records, see the following resources:


 * Mexico Language and Languages
 * Spanish Genealogical Word List
 * BYU Spanish Script Tutorial
 * FamilySearch Learning Center videos:
 * Reading Spanish Handwritten Records, Lesson 1
 * Reading Spanish Handwritten Records, Lesson 2
 * Reading Spanish Handwritten Records, Lesson 3

How Do I Analyze the Results?
Compare each result from your search with what you know to determine if there is a match. This may require viewing multiple records or images. Keep track of your research in a research log.

What Do I Do Next?
To learn more about using the information available in these records, view these lessons for free:
 * Documentos esenciales para buscar a sus antepasados - Spanish
 * Registros Civiles y Parroquiales – Spanish

I Found the Person I Was Looking For, What Now?

 * Use the birth date or age along with the place of birth to find the family in 1930, Mexico National Census
 * Use the residence and names of the parents to locate church records
 * The parents' birth places can tell you former residences and can help to establish a migration pattern for the family
 * It is often helpful to extract the information on all children with the same parents. If the surname is unusual, you may want to compile entries for every person of the same surname and sort them into families based on the names of the parents. Continue to search the records to identify siblings, parents, and other relatives in the same or other generations who were born in the same town or nearby location

I Can’t Find the Person I’m Looking For, What Now?

 * New information is constantly being indexed, microfilmed or updated. Periodically check back and see if your ancestor’s records have been added.  You can see if the area you’ve been looking in has been recently updated by going to Historical Records Collections and notice the asterisk for recently added or updated records
 * If you have been unable to find your ancestor try looking through records in the surrounding localities. Jalisco is to the west, San Luis Potosí to the north, Querétaro to the east, and Michoacán to the south. (Zacatecas and Guanajuato share a border for a little over one mile)
 * Check for variants of given names, surnames, and place names. Transcription errors could occur in any handwritten record; also, it was not uncommon for an individual be listed under a nickname or an abbreviation of their name. Click here for a list of Spanish name abbreviations

Citing This Collection
Citations help you keep track of places you have searched and sources you have found. Identifying your sources helps others find the records you used.

"Mexico, Guanajuato, Civil Registration, 1862-1930." Images. FamilySearch. http://FamilySearch.org : 16 January 2018. Citing Archivo del Registro Civil del Estado de Guanajuato.
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