Panama Genealogy

Central America Panama

Guide to Panama ancestry, family history, and genealogy: birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, parish registers, and military records

Welcome to the Panama research page! We are dedicated to helping you find your Panamanian ancestors. Through the Panama page you can learn how to find, use, and analyze Panamanian records of genealogical value. The content is targeted to beginners, intermediate, and expert researchers. Please visit the help page to learn more about using the site. The Panama Page is a work in progress, your contributions and feedback are essential!

Si usted entiende español
Le invitamos a buscar información en español en la página de Panamá en el wiki de FamilySearch español. También le invitamos a compartir información útil allí. Véase el enlace en la parte inferior de la página o presione aqu i. La informacion proporcionada en el wiki de ingles y en el wiki de español es casi igual pero no es identica.

Getting started with Panama research
Panama is politically divided into 9 provinces and 5 "comarcas," or indigenous territories. Until 1999, the United States controlled the Panama Canal Zone, an unincorporated 10-mile wide territory. Understanding political divisions is essential to doing family history, as these divisions determine where records are recorded and archived. To learn more about Panama's political division, Click here.

See FamilySearch Tutorials on Latin American Research.

Vital Records
Records available online at FamilySearch:


 * Panama Baptisms, 1750-1938
 * Panama Marriages, 1800-1950
 * Panama Deaths, 1840-1930
 * Catholic Church Records, 1707-1973 (images only)

Research Tools

 * See FamilySearch Tutorials on Latin American Research.
 * How to read old Spanish handwriting tutorial
 * FamilySearch Record Search
 * (helpful tools and resources, gazetteers)
 * (language dictionary, handwriting guide or tutorial, etc.)
 * BYU Research Outline for Panama
 * Listing of all records collections for Panama available on FamilySearch.org

Wiki articles describing online collections are found at:


 * Panama Baptisms (FamilySearch Historical Records)
 * Panama Marriages (FamilySearch Historical Records)
 * Panama Catholic Church Records (FamilySearch Historical Records)
 * Panama Deaths (FamilySearch Historical Records)

Did you know?

 * The Isthmus of Panama is the narrowest strip of land in the American continent. It is bordered north-west by Costa Rica, south-east by Colombia, south by the Pacific Ocean, and north by the Caribbean Sea.
 * Some consider Panama a transcontinental nation, with the Panama Canal bisecting North and South America.
 * The first permanent European settlement in the mainland of the Americas, Santa Maria la Antigua del Darien, was founded in Panama by Vasco Nunez de Balboa in 1510.
 * The Pacific Ocean was discovered by Balboa off the coast of Panama on September 25, 1513.