Haiti, Civil Registration - FamilySearch Historical Records

Record Description
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.

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

The 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.

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.

This collection may include information previously published in the International Genealogical Index or Vital Records Index collections.

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

Suggested citation format for a record in this collection.

Record Content
The key genealogical facts found in this collection may contain the following information:

Birth Records


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

Marriage Records


 * 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


 * 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

Beginning your search
To begin your search, you need to know the following information:


 * Ancestors name
 * Approximate date of event
 * Names of parents

Searching the Images
To search the collection you will need to follow this series of links:

⇒Select the "Browse" link in the initial search page ⇒Select the "Département" category ⇒Select the "Commune" category ⇒Select the "Type de document et années" category will take you to the images

Look at each image 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.

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 date along with the place to find the family in census records.
 * Use the residence and names of the parents to locate church and land records.
 * The father’s occupation can lead you to employment records, military records, or other types of records.
 * The parents' birth places can tell you former residences and can help to establish a migration pattern for the family.

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.

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.

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

Citing FamilySearch Historical Collections
When you copy information from a record, you should list where you found the information. This will help you or others to find the record again. It is also good to keep track of records where you did not find information, including the names of the people you looked for in the records.

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

Citation Example for a Record Found in This Collection
“Argentina, Buenos Aires, Catholic Church Records, 1635-1981,” images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org: accessed 28 February, 2012), La Plata > San Ponciano > Matrimonios 1884-1886 >  image 71 of 389 images, Artemio Avendano and Clementina Peralta, 1884; citing Parroquia de San Ponciano en la Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina, Matrimonios. San Ponciano, La Plata, Buenos Aires.