Nicaragua Civil Registration - FamilySearch Historical Records

Title in the Language of the Records
Registro Civil, Nicaragua

Record Description
These civil records include birth, marriages, and death from Nicaragua. The text of the records is in Spanish.

Before the government instituted civil registration in Nicaragua, the Catholic Church was the only institution tracking the births, marriages, and deaths events of the population. The first civil registration law was created on January 30, 1879 with the name of “Reglamento para el Registro del Estado Civil de las Personas” (Regulation for the Registration of the Civil Status of the People), which stated the general procedures of the institution. A civil registration office was established in each city, town, and villa of the country. The Mayor was assigned as the responsible party for the civil registration within his jurisdiction. He could name a custodian officer, who would be responsible in creating separate registers of births, marriages, deaths, and reasons for the civil status only within their jurisdiction. In 1899, this law was modified to include other civil registration events such as: the recognition of illegitimate children, emancipation and age majority declarations, divorces, annulments, absentee declarations, and others. The registers of the Catholic Church created before this law were transferred to the municipality for control.

These civil records have been preserved relatively well. Some of the older registers may have some physical damage; however, in general they are still in good condition to extract genealogical information.

Civil registration is mandatory in Nicaragua; therefore most of the population has been registered. The civil registration in Nicaragua was created to record the events of birth, marriage, death, and other civil events, which would determine and prove the civil status, existence, and condition of the population.

The civil registration records are a reliable source for doing genealogical research in Nicaragua.

Record Content
Death records usually contain the following information:
 * Name of deceased
 * Date, place and time of death
 * Cause of death
 * Legitimacy of deceased
 * Civil status and occupation of deceased
 * Name of spouse, if married
 * Parents' names
 * Parents' civil status and residence
 * Names of witnesses
 * Sometimes, burial information

How to Use the Records
This section provides information on how to search the collection.

When searching: As you are searching it is helpful to know such information as your ancestor's given name and surname, some identifying information such as residence, age, estimated event (birth, marriage, death) year, and family relationships.

Search the Collection
To search the collection by index: Fill in the requested information in the initial search page. This search will return a list of possible matches. Compare the information about the ancestors in the list to what you already know about your ancestors to determine if this is the correct family or person. You may need to compare the information about more than one person to find your ancestor.

To browse the collection by image: ⇒ Select the "Browse" link in the initial search page ⇒ Select the "Department" category ⇒ Select the "City or Municipality" category ⇒ Select the "Parish or district" category ⇒ Select the "Record Type and Years" category which takes you to the images.

Look at the images one by one comparing the information with what you already know about your ancestors to determine which one is your ancestor. You may need to compare the information about more than one person to make this determination.

The civil registration records in Nicaragua are an excellent source for genealogical research after 1879. Before this year, it is suggested to research in the Catholic Church parish records.

For Help Reading These Records
These records are in Spanish. For help reading the records, see the following resources:
 * 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

Related Web Sites

 * Nicaragua Maps
 * Nicaragua History

Related Wiki Articles
Nicaragua

Citations for This Collection
When you copy information from a record, you should list where you found the information; that is, cite your sources. This will help people find the record again and evaluate the reliability of the source. It is also good to keep track of records where you did not find information, including the names of the people you looked for in the records. Citations are available for the collection as a whole and each record or image individually.

Collection citation:

Record citation (or citation for the index entry):

Image citation: