Scotland Genealogy

Guide to Scotland ancestry, family history, and genealogy: birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, parish registers, and military records.

Country Information
Scotland is a one of the four constituent countries of the United Kingdom (together with England, Wales and Northern Ireland). In 1707, the Kingdom of Scotland joined the Kingdom of England in union to become the Kingdom of Great Britain. The official language is English. , although Scottish Gaelic has some legal status within certain contexts.

Scotland has also been known unofficially as "Caledonia", hence the many "Caledonian Societies" around the world.

Scotland Historic Counties and Parishes
The Scotland counties listed below are based on historic boundaries pre-1974. The records dating before 1974 are located within the information found in the historic counties. For those researching their ancestors before the modern time period, historic counties are needed to find the records.

Each parish in Scotland has been assigned a number. These numbers were determined by arranging the parishes in alphabetical order within their respective counties, and then numbering them consecutively throughout all of Scotland.


 * These numbers are a means of reference and can be useful when searching census records, parochial registers (Church of Scotland) and statutory registers (civil registration). In 1854, 901 civil and ecclesiastical parishes were recognized in Scotland.
 * A list of parish numbers and their corresponding registration districts can be found here.

Counties
Click on an old county name to see a list of historic parishes with further links to information on parish records. The codes are the standard 'Chapman Code' abbreviations for the historic counties. For more information see Scotland Counties.

More Scotland Research Strategies
Research strategies give guidance on how to research or what records to search for first. Below are additional research strategy Wiki articles for Scotland.
 * Finding Records of Your Ancestors - Scotland 1855 To 1901 - Beginners Guide (42 Mb pdf file)
 * FamilySearch Library Research Guide for Scotland - contains out-of-date links
 * Getting Started with Scottish research

More Scotland Research Tools
Research tools can include resources that assist in locating correct records to search and determining the correct locality to search in. Below are links and Wiki articles to research tools in Scotland.
 * Personal names
 * Glossary of terms
 * Lord Lyon, the chief herald of Scotland.
 * Scotland Church Records Union List - introduction to this resource available in the Wiki.
 * ScotlandsPeople - the official Scottish Government site for searching government records and archives.
 * Scottish Indexes -volunteer-run site with indexes to collections not indexed elsewhere. Includes Scottish Paternity Index, Mental Health records, Poor Relief records, Criminal Database, etc.
 * Scotland's Family - links to many other sites regarding Scottish history and genealogy.
 * Handfast tradition
 * County list pre and post 1974 - with abbreviation codes
 * Recording Angels Scottish Registrars since 1855
 * A History of Epidemics in Britain

FamilySearch Resources
Below are FamilySearch resources that can assist you in researching your family.
 * Facebook Communities - Facebook groups discussing genealogy research
 * Historical Records
 * FamilySearch Center locator map

Research Tutorials

 * Scotland's Old Parish Registers: How to Access, Use, and Interpret - Parts 1 and 2
 * Using Church of Scotland Parochial Registers to trace Scots Ancestry
 * Scotland's Lost Other Half: Tracing Difficult Ancestral Lines in Scotland's Non-Parochial Register
 * British Resources on FamilySearch.org - Parts 1 and 2
 * www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk Official Scottish Government records and archives search site
 * The Scots-irish: Plantation and Settlement of Ulster in the 17th Century