Guatemala Department, Guatemala Genealogy

Guide to Department of Guatemala ancestry, family history and genealogy: birth records, marriage records, death records, church records, parish registers, and civil registration.

Guatemala Online Genealogy Records Ask the Community

History

 * In 1638, the Dominicans separated their great doctrines -which brought them considerable income- in groups centered on their six convents and doctrines, located in what later became the Departments of Guatemala and Sacatepéquez, although they remained in the jurisdiction of the convent of the city of Santiago de los Caballeros de Guatemala.
 * The Department of Guatemala /Escuintla, whose head was the Nueva Guatemala de la Asunción, was one of the seven original departments.
 * The creation of the state of Los Altos, an ephemeral independent republic, was authorized on December 25, 1838 by the Congress of the Federal Republic of Central America. The Department of Guatemala was part of the lands that were called Los Altos.
 * On April 23, 1925, Fraijanes departed from the Department of Amatitlán, which was part of the jurisdiction of the Department of Guatemala.
 * The Department of Guatemala has a population of approximately 2,542,000 people.

Church Records

 * 1581-1977 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index and images
 * 1730-1917 Guatemala, Select Baptisms, 1730-1917 at Ancestry - index ($)
 * 1730-1917 Guatemala, Baptisms, 1730-1917 at MyHeritage - index ($)
 * 1750-1930 Guatemala, Select Marriages, 1750-1930 at Ancestry - index ($)
 * 1750-1930 Guatemala, Marriages, 1750-1930 at MyHeritage - index ($)
 * 1760-1880 Guatemala, Select Deaths, 1760-1880 at Ancestry - index ($)
 * 1760-1880 Guatemala, Deaths, 1760-1880 at MyHeritage - index ($)

Civil Registration

 * 1877-1980 Guatemala, Civil Registration, 1877-1980 at Ancestry - index & images, ($)
 * 1877-1994 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index
 * 1877-1994 Guatemala, Guatemala, Civil Registration, 1877-1994 at FamilySearch - images
 * 1877-2008 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index & images
 * 1877-2008 Guatemala, Civil Registration, 1877-2008 at MyHeritage - index & images, ($)

Additional online records may be listed in the FamilySearch Catalog for places within Guatemala, Guatemala.

Census Records

 * 1698-1836 (*) at FamilySearch Catalog — images
 * 1753-1765 (*) at FamilySearch Catalog — images
 * 1767-1813 (*) at FamilySearch Catalog — images
 * 1877 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index; Also at: American Ancestors($), Ancestry($), MyHeritage($)

Land and property

 * 1795-1941 (*) at FamilySearch Catalog — images

Reading the Records

 * You do not have to be fluent in Spanish to read your documents. Genealogical records usually contain a limited vocabulary. Use this Spanish Genealogical Word List to translate the important points in the document. Handwriting skills are taught in BYU Spanish Script Tutorial.


 * Online Learning Center class on reading Spanish handwriting:
 * Deciphering Spanish Handwriting


 * Detailed instructions for reading Spanish records, examples of common documents, and practice exercises for developing skills in translating them can be found in the Spanish Records Extraction Manual.
 * The Spanish Documents Script Tutorial also provides lessons and examples.

Building a Family Record with a Search Strategy
Many articles on strategy are available on the Wiki, but here is a simple set of steps to guide you
 * Search for the relative or ancestor you selected. When you find his birth/baptism/christening record, then search for the births of his brothers and sisters.
 * Next, search for the marriage of his parents. The marriage record will have information that will often help you find the birth records of the parents, and even the names of their parents.
 * You can estimate the ages of the parents and determine a birth year to search for their birth records.
 * Search the death registers for all known family members.
 * Repeat this process for both the father and the mother, starting with their birth records, then their siblings' births, then their parents' marriages, and so on.
 * If earlier generations (parents, grandparents, etc.) do not appear in the records, search neighboring parishes.