Croatia, Church Books - FamilySearch Historical Records

Croatia

What is in This Collection?
This collection includes baptismal, marriage, and burial records from different churches in Croatia, such as Roman Catholic, Serbian Orthodox, Jewish, and Military congregations, for the years 1516-1994. It also includes vital records of Jews and some early civil registration of the Napoleonic period.

This collection dates to a period when Croatia was not yet an independent country, so it includes records created under different governments, such as Hungary and the former Yugoslavia. A patent, ruled by Emperor Joseph II in 1784, mandated the inclusion of certain sections in all parish record books maintained by the clergy. These register records were later used also as civil vital records. As of 1868, the Ministry of Internal Affairs took over the right to supervise the maintenance of these records.

This collection contains records from the following denominations and civil units:


 * Civil (Građanski)
 * Evangelical (Evangelička crkva)
 * Greek Catholic (Grkokatolička crkva)
 * Jewish (Židovska)


 * Military (Vojni)
 * Orthodox (Pravoslavna crkva)
 * Reformed Christian (Reformska crkva)
 * Roman Catholic (Rimokatolička crkva)

Reading these Records
These records are written in Croatian. For help reading these records see the following:
 * Croatian Glagolitic Script
 * Serbo-Croatian Genealogical Word List
 * Croatia Language and Languages
 * Croatian Roots

What Can These Records Tell Me?
The information in these records usually include the following:

Birth
 * Date and place of baptism
 * Name of infant
 * Gender and date of birth
 * Legitimacy
 * Religion
 * Parents' names, residence, and place of origin
 * Names of witnesses or godparents

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

Burial
 * 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, place of burial

How Do I Search This Collection?
Before searching, it is best to know the following information:
 * Name of the person
 * Year of the record

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.

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

 * 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 residence and names of the parents to locate church and land records
 * Use the parents' birth places to find former residences and to establish a migration pattern for the family

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

 * Names and places may not have been transcribed with the correct diacritical marks. Search for the name without the diacritics, such as Kovacevic, instead of Kovačević.
 * Check for variant spellings of the surnames
 * Many baptismal records do not include the mother's surname
 * The baptismal date may have been recorded as the birth date, which may cause results to fall outside of the year range you anticipate
 * Search the records of nearby localities

If you find a record that has been indexed incorrectly you can now edit it to make a correction. See the FamilySearch blogpost, Editing Names on Indexed Records for more information.

Research Helps
The following articles will help you in your research for your family in Croatia.
 * Record Finder
 * Research Tips and Strategies

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.