Mexico, Zacatecas, Civil Registration - FamilySearch Historical Records

What is in This Collection?
This collection of civil records for Zacatecas covers the years 1860 to 2000.

This is a collection of civil registration records for Mexico. Records, such as birth, marriages, and deaths, are organized by state and then by municipality/city. Earlier records were handwritten in narrative style; later records were handwritten in formatted registers.

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
For help reading these Spanish records, see the following guides:


 * 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

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

Birth records
 * Date and place of birth
 * Name and gender of child
 * Legitimacy
 * Parents' names, residence, and/or places of origin
 * Names of witnesses

Marriage records
 * Date and place of marriage
 * 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

Death records
 * Place and date of death
 * Name of the 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 searching 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 City or Municipality
 * 2) Select Record Type and Years

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?

 * Add any new information to your records
 * Use the information to find more. For instance, use the age listed in the record to estimate a year of birth, if that is yet undetermined
 * Use the birth date or age along with the place of birth to find the family in 1930, Mexico National Census
 * 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
 * Make sure to fully transcribe and cite the record entry for future reference; see the section Citing this Collection for assistance. Save or print a copy of the image

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

 * Consult the Mexico Record Finder to find other records
 * Mexico, Zacatecas, Catholic Church Records (FamilySearch Historical Records) are also a good substitute when civil records of births, marriages, and deaths cannot be found or are unavailable
 * 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
 * A boundary change could have occurred, and the record of you ancestor is now in a neighboring province. Search the records and indexes of neighboring cities, provinces, and regions
 * Also, consider looking at collections for surrounding localities. Durango is to the west, Coahuila to the north, San Luis Potosí to the east, and Jalisco and Aguascalientes to the south. Zacatecas also shares about a six mile border with Nayarit to the southwest, and about a seven mile border with Nuevo León to the northeast.
 * Consult the Mexico Record Finder to find other 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
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, Zacatecas, Civil Registration, 1860-2000."Database and Images. FamilySearch. http://FamilySearch.org : accessed 17 January 2018. Direccion del Registro Civil y Notarias de Zacatecas (Zacatecas Civil Registry State Archives).
 * Collection Citation:

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