Haiti, Civil Registration - FamilySearch Historical Records

Title in the Language of the Records
Haïti, Port-au-Prince registre d'état civil

Record Description
This Collection will include records from 1794 to 2012.

This is a collection of birth, marriage, and death records from Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Prior to 1804 Haiti was first claimed by Spain and then granted to France in 1697. During French governance, Haiti was known as Saint-Domingue. Some of the records were created using the Republican Calendar (1792-1806). Please see the website link listed in the Related Website section of this article for information on the Republican Calendar. The records were handwritten in French.

Local registry offices create the civil events, such as birth, marriage, and death, of citizens in their jurisdiction. The registrar sends the records to the Ministry of Justice annually, which verifies the records and affixes a seal before transferring them to the National Archives. A copy of the record is also kept at the local registry office or at the Civil Court Clerk's Office (Bureau du greffe du Tribunal civil). Unfortunately, a large number of births are not registered in Haiti.

Civil registration was created to record the events of birth, marriage, death, and other civil events, which would determine and prove the civil status and existence of citizens.

Civil registration records are a very reliable source for doing genealogical research after 1804, the year when civil registration was implemented in Haiti.

For a list of records by date or locality currently published in this collection, select the Browse link from the collection landing page.

Record Content
Birth records usually contain the following information:


 * Full name of child
 * Date and place of birth
 * Gender
 * Legitimacy
 * Parents' names, residence, and/or place of origin
 * Names of witnesses

Marriage records generally contain the following information:


 * Names of the bride and groom
 * Date and place of the marriage
 * Their civil statuses (widowed, single, divorced) at the time of the event
 * Place of origin and residence of the bride and groom
 * Names of parents
 * Name of witnesses

Death records usually contain the following information:


 * Place and date of death
 * Name of the deceased
 * Civil status of deceased at time of death
 * Civil status and name of spouse, if married at time of death
 * Parents’ names
 * Sometimes, place of burial

How to Use the Records
To begin your search, it would be helpful if you knew the following information:


 * Names of parents
 * Approximate date and place of event
 * Commune

Search the Collection
To search the collection image by image, ⇒Select "Browse through images" on the initial collection page ⇒Select "Department" ⇒Select "Commune" ⇒Select "Record Type and Years" will take you to the images

Look at the images one by one comparing the information with what you already know about your ancestors to determine if the image relates to them. You may need to look at several images and compare the information about the individuals listed in those images to your ancestors to make this determination.

Using the Information
Compare the information in the record to what you already know about your ancestors to determine if this is the correct person. You may need to compare the information of more than one person to make this determination. Be aware that as with any index, transcription errors may occur.

When you have located your ancestor’s birth, marriage, or death record, carefully evaluate each piece of information about them. These pieces of information may give you new biographical details that can lead you to other records about your ancestors.

For example:


 * Use the residence and names of the parents to locate church records.

It is often helpful to extract the information on all children with the same parents. If the surname is unusual, you may want to compile entries for every person of the same surname and sort them into families based on the names of the parents. Continue to search the records to identify siblings, parents, and other relatives in the same or other generations who were born in the same town or nearby location.

Tips to Keep in Mind

 * The information in civil records is usually reliable, but depends upon the reliability of the informant.
 * Earlier records may not contain as much information as the records created after the late 1800s.
 * There is also some variation in the information given from record to record.

For Help Reading These Records
These records are in French. For help reading the records, see the following wiki articles:


 * French Wordlist
 * France Language and Languages

Known Issues with This Collection
For a full list of all known issues associated with this collection see the attached Wiki article. If you encounter additional problems, please email them to [mailto:support@familysearch.org support@familysearch.org]. Please include the full path to the link and a description of the problem in your e-mail. Your assistance will help ensure that future reworks will be considered.

Related Websites

 * Republican Calendar
 * The French Revolutionary Calendar
 * Office National D’Identification
 * Association de Généalogie d’Haiti
 * Genese. Les registres d’état civil anciens des Archives Nationales d’Haiti

Related Wiki Articles

 * Haiti
 * French Republican Calendar

Citation for This Collection
The following citation refers to the original source of the information published in FamilySearch.org Historical Record collections. Sources include the author, custodian, publisher, and archive for the original records.

Digital copies of originals are also housed in different local registry offices throughout Haiti.