Estonia Civil Registration

Online Records

 * Estonian Cultural Index (EILI)

Introduction
In 1926, the registering of births, marriages, and deaths was passed over to the civil service. Clerics could also perform the registrar's duty if they observed the requirements of the state. Before 1926, birth, marriage, and death information can be found in church records.

Civil registers
Research use: Uniquely identify individuals and connects them to their parents.

Record type: Civil records of birth, marriage, and death.

General: The Soviets implemented civil registration after World War II. Metrical book transcripts served this purpose previously. Registration offices are collocated with "marriage palaces" permitting the registration and performance of weddings to occur at the same place and time.

Time period: 1940-present.

Contents: Birth, marriage, and death records have the exact date of the event, including time of day for births; names of principal and parents; occupation and religious preference of parents; name of informant for births and names of witnesses for marriages; place of residence for parents of newly born, of the groom and bride for marriages, and of the deceased for deaths; age at death, cause of death, and place of burial in death records.

Location: Civil Registry Archive in Tallinn.

Population coverage: 85% coverage.

Supplementary Records
Other record types can be used to confirm or supply missing information on birth, marriage, and death registration. Such records include: vaccination registers, wills, property inventories, marriage licenses, adoptions, records to certify the only breadwinner of the family (the only breadwinner was released from military service), and writ of attachment of the property that remains with the children.