Uruguay Civil Registration - FamilySearch Historical Records

Title in the Language of the Record
Registro Civil de Uruguay

Record Description
This Collection will include records from 1879 to 1930.

For a list of the departments and years included in this collection, see the coverage table below.

The information recorded in civil registration records varied over time. The later records generally give more complete information than the earlier ones. The records in this collection are handwritten in Spanish. Earlier records are written in narrative style, and later records were written onto forms.

Citation for This Collection
The following citation refers to the original source of the information for collections published in FamilySearch.org. Source citations include the author, custodian, publisher and archive for the original records.

Record Content
The key genealogical facts found on most birth records include the following:


 * Place and date of registration
 * Place, date, and time of birth
 * Name of the newborn
 * Names of the parents (maiden name of the mother)
 * Parents’ places of origin or residence
 * Occupation of the father
 * Names of the grandparents

The key genealogical facts found on most marriage records include the following:


 * Place and date of marriage
 * Names and ages of the groom and bride
 * Civil statuses, places of origin, and residences of the groom and bride
 * Parents’ names, places of origin, and sometimes marital status
 * Sometimes the names of the grandparents
 * Witnesses’ names

The key genealogical facts found on most death records include the following:


 * Place and date of death
 * Name of the deceased
 * Cause of death
 * Occupation, residence, and age of the deceased
 * Sometimes the parents’ names
 * Burial place

How to Use the Record
Fill in the requested information in the initial search page. This search will return a list of possible matches. Compare the information about the ancestors in the list to what you already know about your ancestors to determine if this is the correct family or person. You may need to compare the information about more than one person to find your ancestor.

When searching the index it is helpful to know the following:


 * The county where the birth, marriage, or death occurred
 * The name of the person at the time of the event
 * The approximate event date
 * The event place

When looking for a person who had a common name, look at all the entries for the name before deciding which is the entry for your ancestor. Compare the information in the record to what you already know about your ancestor to determine if this is the correct person. You may need to compare the information of more than one person (for example, you may need to compare the names of the parents) to make this determination.

When you have located your ancestor’s record, carefully evaluate each piece of information. Add this new information to your records of each family. Use a couple’s marriage date and place as the basis for compiling a new family group record or for verifying existing information. These pieces of information may give you new biographical details that can lead you to other records about your ancestors.

For example:


 * From a marriage record, use the birth date or age along with the place of birth of each partner to find the couple’s birth records and their parents’ names.
 * Use the birth date or age along with the place of birth to find the family in census records.
 * Use the residence and names of the parents to locate church and land records.
 * Use occupations to find other types of records such as employment or military records.
 * Use the parents’ birth places to find former residences and to establish a migration pattern for the family.
 * Look at the name of the officiator for a clue to the family’s religion or area of residence in the county. However, ministers may have reported marriages performed in other counties.
 * Search the collection for marriage entries for individuals who have the same surnames as your ancestors; they may be relatives. This is especially helpful in rural areas or when the surname is unusual.
 * 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.
 * Use the marriage number to identify previous marriages.

Keep in mind:


 * Earlier records may not contain as much information as the records created after the late 1900.
 * The information in the records is usually reliable but depends upon the reliability of the informant.
 * There is also some variation in the information given from one record to another record.

If you are unable to find the ancestors you are looking for, try the following:


 * Check for variant spellings of the surnames.
 * Check for a different index. There are often indexes at the beginning of each volume.
 * Search for the marriage record of the marriage partner, if known.
 * Search the indexes and records of nearby counties.

Related Websites

 * German Genealogy: Uruguay
 * Surname Finder

Related Wiki Articles

 * Uruguay

Citing FamilySearch Historical Collections
When you copy information from a record, you should list where you found the information. This will help you or otehrs find the record again. It is also good to keep track of records where you did not find information, including the names of the people you looked for in the records.

A suggested format for keeping track of records that you have searched is found in the wiki article Help:How to Cite FamilySearch Collections.