Uruguay Civil Registration - FamilySearch Historical Records

Uruguay

What is in This Collection?
This collection includes birth records from 1879 to 1930. The information recorded in civil registration records varied over time. The later records generally give more complete information than the earlier ones. The records in this collection are handwritten in Spanish. Earlier records are written in narrative style, and later records were written onto forms.

Reading These Records
These records are written in Spanish. For help reading these records please see the following: FamilySearch Learning Center videos:
 * Spanish Genealogical Word List
 * BYU Spanish Script Tutorial
 * Reading Spanish Handwritten Records, Lesson 1
 * Reading Spanish Handwritten Records, Lesson 2

If you speak Spanish, the following free online lesson may be helpful to learn how to use the information in these records:
 * Registros Civiles y Parroquiales – Spanish

What Can These Records Tell Me?
The following information may be found in these records: • 2

How Do I Search This Collection?
When searching the index it is helpful to know the following:
 * The location where the birth occurred
 * The name of the child or parents
 * The approximate date of birth
 * The place of birth

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?

 * Use the birth date or age along with the place of birth to find the family in census records
 * Use the residence and names of the parents to locate other church and land records
 * Occupations listed can lead you to other types of records such as employment or military record
 * Use the parents' birth places to find former residences and to establish a migration pattern for the family
 * Compile information for every person who has the same surname as your ancestor; this is especially helpful in rural areas or if the surname is unusual
 * Continue to search the records to identify children, siblings, parents, and other relatives in the same county or nearby. This can help you identify other generations of your family or even the second marriage of a parent. Repeat this process for each new generation you identify

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

 * Civil registration records are also a good source of genealogical information. See Uruguay Civil Registration for further information.  You should obtain copies of both church records and civil registration, when possible, since they do not necessarily provide the same information. For example, baptismal registers sometimes provide the names of the fathers of illegitimate children when the civil registration does not
 * There may be more than one person with the same name
 * Check for variants of given names, surnames, and place names. Transcription errors could occur in any handwritten record; also, it was not uncommon for an individual be listed under a nickname or an abbreviation of their name. Click here for a list of Spanish name abbreviations
 * Even though this is an index there may still be inaccuracies, such as altered spellings, misinterpretations, and optical character recognition errors if the information was scanned
 * A boundary change could have occurred and the record of your ancestor is now in a neighboring area. Search the records and indexes of neighboring cities, provinces, and regions
 * Your ancestor may have immigrated to another country. Search the records of nearby countries or immigration/emigration records
 * Church records are also a good substitute when birth, marriage, and death records can’t be found or are unavailable. Before the government instituted civil registration in Uruguay, the Catholic Church was the only institution tracking the births, marriages, and deaths of the population.
 * Your ancestor may have immigrated to another country. Search the records of nearby areas or immigration/emigration records.
 * New information is constantly being indexed, microfilmed or updated. Periodically check back and see if your ancestor’s records have been added.  You can see if the area you’ve been looking in has been recently updated by going to Historical Records Collections and notice the asterisk for recently added or updated records

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

Related FamilySearch Historical Records Collections

 * Uruguay Baptisms - FamilySearch Historical Records
 * Uruguay Marriages - FamilySearch Historical Records

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.

How Can I Contribute to the FamilySearch Wiki?
Uruguai, Registro Civil (Registros Históricos do FamilySearch) Uruguay, registro civil (Registros históricos de FamilySearch)