Argentina, Buenos Aires, Catholic Church Records - FamilySearch Historical Records

Argentina Buenos Aires

What is in the Collection?
The collection contains baptisms, marriages, and deaths from 1635 to 1981. Early registers are handwritten in narrative style, and later records were handwritten on printed forms. They are from parishes in the Buenos Aires Province as it existed at the end of the 20th century.

Boundaries of the Buenos Aires Province changed considerably from its founding in 1617. The Buenos Aires Province belonged to the following confederations (in chronological order): the Spanish Peruvian viceroyalty (the province was then called Province of Rio de la Plata), the viceroyalty of the Rio de la Plata, the Argentine Confederacy, the State of Buenos Aires, and finally the Argentine Republic, also known today as Argentina. Throughout this dynamic history, the Catholic Church retained a prominent place in the affairs of the Province’s citizens. As of the late 20th century, an estimated 92 percent of the population was nominally Roman Catholic.

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

General Information About Church Records

Church records are crucial for genealogical research, since civil authorities did not begin registering vital statistics until after 1886. After this date one should search in both church and civil records as there may be information in one that does not appear in the other. For instance the church records may only list the godparents whereas the civil records may list the grandparents.

Church records are the most important records for genealogical research in Argentina. The vast majority of Argentines were Catholic and were registered in the records of the local parish or diocese which are called registros parroquiales (parish registers). These records include entries for baptisms, marriage information, marriages, deaths, and burials. They can help you trace and link families. Often two and sometimes three generations are indicated in the records. In addition, church records may include church censuses, account books, confirmations, and other church-related records.

Some church records have been lost or have deteriorated due to natural effects, such as humidity and insects, and more dramatic events such as fire, floods and earthquakes. Civil and political strife have also caused the destruction of parish books. Some records were destroyed or damaged because of poor storage. However, many records considered lost are simply misplaced or misidentified.

In 1886 the civil government began keeping vital records (civil registration). If you are looking for ancestors who came before this time, then the Catholic Church parish registers are the best records available to identify these individuals, since church records were around for hundreds of years prior to civil registration. For civil vital records of births, deaths, and marriages after 1886, see Argentina Civil Registration (Registro Civil).

Coverage Table
As of 20 December 2016 this collection included records from the following cities or towns:

What Can this Collection Tell Me?
Birth records usually contain the following information:


 * Place of event
 * Date of event
 * Name of child
 * Child’s birth date
 * Father’s name
 * Mother’s name
 * Parents' residence
 * Godparents names

Marriage records usually contain the following information:


 * Date of event
 * Place of event
 * Groom's name
 * Groom’s civil status, age and origin
 * Names of groom's parents
 * Parents place of residence
 * Bride's name
 * Bride’s civil status, age and origin
 * Names of bride's parents
 * Parents place of residence
 * Witnesses

Death records usually contain the following information:


 * Event date and location
 * Name of deceased
 * Gender, age, race of deceased
 * Date and place of birth
 * Residence
 * Religion, civil status
 * Occupation
 * Date of death and time
 * Cause of death

How Do I Search the Collection?
As you are searching it is helpful to know such information as your ancestor’s given name and surname, as well as where they lived, and an estimated event date. Remember that there may be more than one person in the records with the same name as your ancestor and that your ancestor may have used nicknames or different names at different times.

Search by Name by visiting the Collection Page: 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.

View images in this collection by visiting the Browse Page: To browse this collection by image: ⇒ Select the “City or Town” category ⇒ Select the “Parish” category ⇒ Select the “Record Type and Years” that takes you to the images.

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


 * Spanish Genealogical Word List
 * Reading Spanish handwritten records
 * Script tutorial for Spanish
 * Argentina Language and Languages

What Do I Do Next?
When you have located your ancestor’s record, carefully evaluate each piece of information given. These pieces of information may give you new biographical details that can lead you to other records about your ancestors. Add this new information to your records of each family. Keep in mind:


 * The information in church records is usually reliable, but depends upon the reliability of the informant.
 * Earlier records may not contain as much information as the records created after the late 1800's.
 * There is also some variation in the information given from one record to another.

I Found Who I was Looking for, Now What?

 * 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 partner to find a couple's birth records and parents' names.
 * Use the birth date or age along with the place of birth to find the family in census records.
 * Use the death date or age along with the place of death to find birth records.
 * Use the residence and names of the parents to locate church and land records.
 * Occupations listed can lead you to 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.
 * Compile information for every person who has the same surname as your ancestor; this is especially helpful in rural areas or if the surname is unusual.
 * Continue to search the records to identify children, siblings, parents, and other relatives 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.
 * When looking for a person who had a common name, look at all the entries for the name before deciding which is correct.

I Can't Find Who I'm Looking for, Now What?

 * Civil registration records are also a good source of genealogical information. See Argentina Civil Registration for further information. You should obtain copies of both church records and civil registration, when possible, since they do not necessarily provide the same information. For example, baptismal registers sometimes provide the names of the fathers of illegitimate children when the civil registration does not
 * Check for variant spellings of the surnames.
 * You ancestor may be using a nickname or alias.
 * A boundary change could have occurred and the record of your ancestor is now in a neighboring area. Search the records and indexes of neighboring cities, provinces, and regions.
 * Your ancestor may have immigrated to another country. Search the records of nearby countries or immigration/emigration records.

Known Issues with This Collection
For a full list of all known issues associated with this collection see the attached 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 and evaluate 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:

Record Citation (or citation for the index entry):

Image Citation: