Guatemala, Catholic Church Records - FamilySearch Historical Records

Guatemala

Why Should I Look at This Collection?
Parish registers are the best records to identify individuals, parents, and spouses before 1877. After this date, civil authorities began registering vital events, and civil records become equally important. The information in civil records confirms and supplements the information in church records. For instance, the parish registers may list the godparents while the civil records may list the grandparents. The parish registers may be the only records available for genealogical research before civil registration was implemented in 1877. In order to find information in these church records, it is necessary to know the name of the ancestor and an approximate year of the birth.

What is in This Collection?
This collection of baptism, marriage and burial records from parishes throughout Guatemala covers the years of 1581 to 1977. For a complete list of all the parishes contained in the collection, see the Parishes in Guatemala coverage table.

Separate books were kept for the sacramental ordinances of baptism, marriage, and burial. The entries were normally made in chronological order. Some confirmations may be found within the baptisms. The earlier parish records were all handwritten in narrative form, and later records were handwritten in formatted entries.

The evangelization of Guatemalans by Catholic Church priests began in the 16th century. The records of baptisms, marriages, and burials they created help us become acquainted with the inhabitants and identify the importance of their families in the development of society. The history of cities in Guatemala is interwoven with the Catholic Church parish records. Most of the inhabitants of Guatemala were Roman Catholics; therefore, these records may well cover about 95% to 100% of the population.

Catholic Church parish registers were created by priests authorized to record the church ordinances of baptism, confirmation, marriage, death, and burial, and other ordinances performed for the members within the jurisdiction of the parish.

Catholic Church parish registers are the primary source for birth, marriage, and death records in Guatemala prior to the implementation of civil registration in 1877.

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

Baptismal records
 * Place of the event
 * Date of the event
 * Name of the child
 * Age or date of birth of the child
 * Gender and legitimacy
 * Parents’ names
 * Sometimes the names of the grandparents
 * Names of the godparents

Marriage records


 * Place of the event
 * Date of the event
 * Names of the betrothed
 * Age, marital status, and sometime the race of the betrothed
 * Birthplace or place of residence
 * Gender and legitimacy
 * Parents’ names
 * Witnesses’ names

Burial records


 * Name of the deceased
 * Burial date (often the same day as the death)
 * Age at time of death
 * Names of parents or spouse
 * Residence of the deceased
 * Cause of death

How Do I Search This Collection?
Before searching this collection, it is helpful to know:
 * Name of the person you're looking for
 * Approximate date of the event

View the Images
View images in this collection by visiting the :
 * 1) Select Department
 * 2) Select City or Town
 * 3) Select Parish
 * 4) Select Record Type and Years to view the images

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?

 * When looking for a person who had a common name, look at all the entries for the name before deciding which is correct
 * For death records, the information in records is usually reliable, but depends upon the knowledge of the informant
 * Regarding marriage and death records, name changes, shortened names, or nicknames may have been used by your ancestors, so pay attention to other relationships (parents, spouse, siblings, children, etc.) that can confirm whether you have the right person/record
 * Continue to search the marriage records to identify children, siblings, parents, and other relatives of the bride and groom who may have married 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
 * Continue to search the indexes and records to identify children, siblings, parents, and other relatives who may have lived in the same area or a nearby area

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

 * For death records, the information in records is usually reliable, but depends upon the knowledge of the informant
 * For marriage and death records, name changes, shortened names, or nicknames may have been used by your ancestors, so pay attention to other relationships (parents, spouse, siblings, children, etc.) that can confirm whether you have the right person/record
 * When looking for a person who had a common name, look at all the entries for the name before deciding which is correct
 * Continue to search the marriage records to identify children, siblings, parents, and other relatives of the bride and groom who may have married 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
 * Continue to search the indexes and records to identify children, siblings, parents, and other relatives who may have lived in the same area or a nearby area
 * Hispanic Genealogy Research community on Facebook is a page sponsored by FamilySearch and here you may also post a question or upload an image of a document for further assistance.
 * Investigación Genealógica en Guatemala is another FamilySearch research community page on Facebook where you can post questions and upload images of documents. The majority of the posts on this page are in Spanish but you are welcome to post on the page in English. Be sure to click like on the page on

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

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.