French Polynesia, Civil Registration - FamilySearch Historical Records

French Polynesia

Why Should I Look at This Collection?
This collection is an index of civil registration records that include births, marriages, and deaths from French Polynesia. The records are from the years 1780 to 1999, with a few restrictions. Birth records must be more than 120 years old, marriage records more than 100 years old, and death records more than 75 years old. Each year an additional year's worth of births, marriages, and deaths may be released for publication. The original records are located within the Tribunal Civil in Papeete, Tahiti.

What is in This Collection?
Civil registration of of births, marriages, and deaths for French Polynesia, 1780-1999.

Reading These Records
These records are in French. For help reading these records see the following guides:
 * France Language and Languages
 * French Genealogical Word List
 * French Handwriting
 * Script Tutorial for French
 * FamilySearch Learning Center videos:
 * Reading French Handwritten Records

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

Birth
 * Birth date
 * Name at birth
 * Parents’ names
 * Child's gender
 * Christening date

Marriage
 * Marriage date
 * Groom's parents' names
 * Bride's parents' names
 * Bride's maiden name
 * Groom’s name

Death
 * Estimated birth date
 * Deceased's name
 * Spouse's name
 * Parents’ names
 * Burial date
 * Age at death

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?

 * 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
 * Look at an image of the original record. The original may contain information that was not recorded in the index. To find a copy of the original record, visit the http://www.ca-papeete.justice.fr/ page
 * To help keep track of your research, you may want to keep a research log
 * Continue to search the index and records to identify children, siblings, parents, and other relatives

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

 * If your ancestor used multiple names throughout their life, look for all their names
 * Use the age to calculate a birth date and to find other records such as birth, christening, census, land and death records

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

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.