El Salvador Civil Registration - FamilySearch Historical Records

El Salvador



Title in the Language of the Records
Registro Civil de San Salvador, El Salvador

What is in the Collection?
These records are in Spanish. This collection includes records from 1704 to 1990. For a complete list of all the cities contained in this collection, see the Cities of El Salvador - Civil Registration coverage table.

The civil registration was not instituted until about 1859; however, some church records were used as civil records prior to this time. The birth records were issued in municipal offices of the civil registration and a copy of the registers was sent to be archived in the Central Archives. This collection also includes the individual indexes. Copies of the registers were archived in the Central Archive in San Salvador.

The civil registration was necessary in order to keep an official record of the civil events and acts related to the civil state of the citizens. These records are a great source for genealogical research. Some of the records appear to have some damage, which have caused some loss of information. The text is in Spanish in a narrative style.

Sample Images
Birth records usually contain the following information:


 * Name and surname of child
 * Date and place of birth
 * Gender of child
 * Parents' names

Marriage records usually contain the following information:


 * Date and place of marriage
 * Groom's name, age, marital status and occupation
 * Bride's name, age and marital status
 * Groom's parents' names
 * Bride's parents' names

Death records usually contain the following information:


 * Name of deceased
 * Date and place of death
 * Age and gender of deceased
 * Parents' names of deceased

How Do I Search the Collection?
Search by Name by visiting the Collection Page: Fill in the requested information in the boxes on the initial search page. This search will return a list of possible matches. Compare the information about the ancestors in the list to what you already know about your ancestors to determine if this is the correct family or person. You may need to compare the information about more than one person to find your ancestor.

View images in this collection by visiting the Browse Page: ⇒Select the "Department" ⇒Select the "City or Municipality" ⇒Select the "Record Type and Years" which takes you to the images.

When searching: As you are searching it is helpful to know such information as your ancestor's given name and surname, some identifying information such as residence, age, and family relationships. Remember that there may be more than one person in the records with the same name as your ancestor and that your ancestor may have used nicknames or different names at different times.

What Do I Do Next?

 * Use the marriage date and place as the basis for compiling a new family group or for verifying existing information.
 * Use the birth date or age along with the place of birth of each partner to find a couple's birth records and parents' names.
 * 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 church and land records.
 * Occupations listed can lead you to other types of records such as employment or military records.
 * Use the parents' birth places to find former residences and to establish a migration pattern for the family.
 * Compile the marriage entries for every person who has the same surname as the bride or groom; this is especially helpful in rural areas or if the surname is unusual.
 * 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 area. 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.
 * Use the marriage number to identify previous marriages.
 * When looking for a person who had a common name, look at all the entries for the name before deciding which is correct.

I Found Who I was Looking for, Now What?

 * Earlier records may not contain as much information as the records created after the late 1900.
 * There is also some variation in the information given from one marriage record to another record.

What if I Can't Find Who I'm Looking For?

 * Check for variant spellings of the surnames.
 * Search for the marriage record of the marriage partner if known.
 * Check for a different index. There are often indexes at the beginning of each volume.
 * Search the indexes and records of nearby departments.

For Help Reading These Records
These records are in Spanish. For help reading the records, see the following resources:


 * Spanish Genealogical Word List
 * BYU Spanish Script Tutorial
 * FamilySearch Learning Center videos:
 * Reading Spanish Handwritten Records, Lesson 1
 * Reading Spanish Handwritten Records, Lesson 2
 * Reading Spanish Handwritten Records, Lesson 3

Related Websites

 * Online maps
 * Online histories
 * Online genealogical resources

Related Wiki Articles

 * El Salvador
 * El Salvador Civil Registries

Citing This Collection
Citing your sources makes it easy for others to find and evaluate the records you used. When you copy information from a record, list where you found that information. Here you can find citations already created for the entire collection and for each individual record or image.

Collection Citation:

Record Citation (or citation for the index entry):

Image Citation:

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 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.