Mexico, Colima, Civil Registration - FamilySearch Historical Records

Title in the Language of the Record
Registro Civil del Estado de Colima, México

Record Description
This collection of civil records for Puebla covers the inclusive years of 1860 to 1997.

This is a collection of civil registration records for Mexico. Records, such as birth, marriages, and deaths, are organized by state and then by municipality/city. Earlier records were handwritten in narrative style; later records were handwritten in formatted registers. The text of these records is in Spanish.

Civil records in Mexico cover about 90 to 95% of the population. Beginning in 1859, the Mexican government began requiring births, marriages, and deaths to be recorded by civil authorities on a municipality/district level. Although these records are a great source of genealogical information, they are not complete as civil registration wasn't strictly enforced in Mexico until 1867 and people did not always comply. For this reason, church registers must be used alongside the civil records. The civil records of Mexico have been preserved relatively well. Only some of the older registers may have some physical damage. However, in general they are in good condition to extract genealogical information.

For a list of records by localities and dates currently published in this collection, select the Browse link from the collection landing page.

The Mexican civil registration was created to record the vital 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 of Mexico are a reliable source for doing genealogical research.

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

Record Content
These birth records usually contain the following information:


 * Child's name and gender
 * Date and place of birth
 * Father's name, age, civil status, origin, occupation and residence
 * Mother's name, age, origin and residence
 * Names of paternal grandparents
 * Names of maternal grandparents
 * Names of witnesses
 * Witnesses' age, civil status and residence

These marriage records usually contain the following information:


 * Date and place of the marriage
 * Names of the bride and groom
 * Groom's age, civil status, origin, occupation and residence
 * Names of groom's parents, their origin and residence
 * Bride's age, civil status, origin and residence
 * Names of bride's parents, their origin and residence
 * Names of witnesses

These death records usually contain the following information:


 * Name of deceased
 * Birth date and place of deceased
 * Age, gender and nationality of deceased
 * Civil status, occupation and residence of deceased
 * Date, time and place of death
 * Cause of death
 * Name of spouse, if married
 * Names of parents
 * Place of burial
 * Declarant's name, age, occupation, nationality and residence
 * Declarant's relationship to deceased

How to Use the Record
To search the collection you will need to follow this series of links: ⇒ Select the "Browse" link in the initial search page ⇒ Select the "City or Municipality" ⇒ Select the "Record Type and Years" 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 Mexico are an excellent source for genealogical research after 1867. Important genealogical data can be found in these records, which may also include data of other family members to fill in another generation group. Begin your search by finding your ancestors in the index. Name indexes to baptisms, marriages, and death or burials make it possible to access a specific record quickly. Remember that these indexes may contain inaccuracies, such as altered spellings, misinterpretations, and optical character recognition errors if the information was scanned.

Related Websites

 * Mexico Civil Registration PDF document
 * Dirección General del Registro Civil del Distrito Federal

Related Wiki Articles

 * Colima
 * Mexico Civil Registration

Citing FamilySearch Historical Collections
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A suggested format for keeping track of records that you have searched is found in the wiki article Help:How to Cite FamilySearch Collections