Mexico Civil Registration Records - FamilySearch Historical Records

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Foreign Language Title
Registro Civil de México

Collection Time Period
The collection of the civil records for Mexico covers the inclusive years of 1867 to 1937.

Collection History
Civil records in Mexico cover about 90 to 95% 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 people did not always comply, and civil registration wasn't strictly enforced in Mexico until 1867. 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.

Why This Collection Was Created
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.

Collection Description
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. The earlier records were handwritten in narrative style and later these records were handwritten in formatted registers. The text of these records is in Spanish.

Collection Content
The key genealogical facts found in most birth records are: • Date and place of the event • Name of the principal • Child’s gender • Child’s date of birth • Legitimacy • Parents names, their residence and/or place of origin • Names of witnesses

The key genealogical facts found in most marriage records are: • Date and place of the event • Names of the bride and groom • Their civil status (widowed, single, divorce) at the time of the event • Place of origin and residence of the bride and groom • Names of parents • Name of witnesses

The key genealogical facts found in most death records are: • 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 • Parent’s names • Sometimes, place of burial

Collection Reliability
The civil registration records of Mexico are a reliable source for doing genealogical research.

How to Use the Collection
The civil registration records in Mexico are an excellent source for genealogical research after 1867. Important genealogical data can be found in these records, which may also include data of other family members to fill in another generation group.

Related Articles
Mexico Civil Registration

Related Web Sites
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Sources of This Collection
"Mexico Civil Registration", database, FamilySearch (http://pilot.familysearch.org/recordsearch), 2009.

Digital copies of original records housed at various Civil Registry Offices throughout Mexico.

How to Cite Your Sources
Instructions for citing this source can be found at: Cite Your Sources (Source Footnotes) (Normal heading with italics)