Dominican Republic, Catholic Church Records - FamilySearch Historical Records

Dominican Republic

What Is In The Collection?
This collection includes Catholic church baptism, marriage, and burial records from 1590 to 1955 for parishes throughout the Dominican Republic. For a complete list of all the parishes contained in this collection, see the Parishes of the Dominican Republic coverage table.

The records in this collection were created in different Catholic Church jurisdictions throughout the Dominican Republic. Authorized priests received an order from the Queen of Spain to record the events of baptism, marriage, and burial of his parish jurisdiction. The records were to be recorded in registers that were kept at the parish level archive, and a copy was sent to the diocesan archive for preservation.

Earlier records were handwritten in narrative style, and later records were handwritten in formatted registers. Depending on the priest, some records have more information than others.

The Catholic Church records of the Dominican Republic are the best reliable source for genealogical research. For research after the civil registration implementation in 1944, it is suggested to research both civil and church records and to compare the information.

These records were obtained from public access sources in the Dominican Republic and may be used for informational and research purposes only. Please direct inquiries, requests, or concerns to the e-mail listed at the bottom of the FamilySearch Privacy Policy (https://familysearch.org/privacy/).

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 is often found in these records:

How Do I Search The 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 Province
 * 2) Select City or Town
 * 3) Select Parish
 * 4) Select Record Type and Years to view the images.

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


 * Spanish Genealogical Word List
 * Script tutorial for Spanish
 * Reading Spanish handwritten records

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.

What Do I Do Next?

 * When available, look at the original record. It often has more information than the indexed record.  Making a copy of the original record, or at least citing where you found it, is also useful.
 * It's always a good idea to keep your citation on a Research Log. This is an important tool to help keep track of what you have and have not found.  Family search wiki has a  Research Log that you can download and use.

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
 * La Investigación Genealógica en República Dominicana - Spanish

I Found Who I was Looking for, What Now?

 * Some record sets have indexes; which were created at the end of the year. Copy errors could have been made in the index, so you want to find the actual record to verify the information is correct. Using the index is a helpful way to find the actual record.
 * If indexes are available, check these for the name first. Indexes are usually located at the beginning of a group of images, at the end or in individual folders. Find your ancestor’s name and look for the locator information next to the name (such as page, entry, or certificate number). This will help you find the record you are looking for in the collection.
 * Regarding marriage and burial records, name changes, shortened names, or nicknames may have been used by your ancestors, so pay attention to other relationships (parents, spouse, siblings, children, etc.) that can confirm whether you have the right person/record.
 * Use the marriage date and place as the basis for compiling a new family group or for verifying existing information.
 * Use the birth date or age along with the place of birth of each spouse to find a couple's birth records and parents' names.
 * Use the parents' birth places to find former residences and to establish a migration pattern for the family.
 * Compile the marriage entries for every person who has the same surname as the bride or groom; this is especially helpful in rural areas or if the surname is unusual.
 * Use the marital status to identify previous marriages, that is, whether a divorce or death dissolved a previous marriage.
 * Witnesses often were relatives of the parents.
 * Continue to search the marriage records to identify children, siblings, parents, and other relatives of the bride and groom who may have married in the same county or nearby. This can help you identify other generations of your family or even the second marriage of a parent. Repeat this process for each new generation you identify.
 * Continue to search the indexes and records to identify children, siblings, parents, and other relatives who may have lived in the same area or a nearby area.

I Can't Find Who I'm Looking fro, 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.
 * The birth of a child must be registered within 30 days of the birth. After that, it is considered a late registration and has penalties. Therefore, if parents knew they wouldn't meet the deadline, then to avoid the penalties, many children were not registered.
 * A boundary change could have occurred and the record of you ancestor is now in a neighboring state or region, or your ancestor immigrated to another country. Search the records of nearby areas or immigration/emigration records Dominican Republic, Miscellaneous Records (FamilySearch Historical Records).
 * Civil records are also a good substitute when baptism, marriage, and burial records can’t be found or are unavailable Dominican Republic Civil Registration (FamilySearch Historical Records).
 * 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

Known Issues with This Collection
For a full list of all known issues associated with this collection see the attached Wiki article. If you encounter additional problems, please email them to [mailto:support@familysearch.org support@familysearch.org]. Please include the full path to the link and a description of the problem in your e-mail. Your assistance will help ensure that future reworks will be considered.

Citing this Collection
Citing your sources makes it easy for others to find the records you used. When you copy information from a record, list where you found that information. Here you can find citations already created for the entire collection and for each individual record or image. Collection Citation:

Image Citation