Nicaragua Civil Registration - FamilySearch Historical Records

Nicaragua

What is in This Collection?
The civil registration in Nicaragua was created to record the events of birth, marriage, death, and other civil events. These records would determine and prove the civil status, existence, and condition of the population. Civil registration is mandatory in Nicaragua; therefore most of the population has been registered.

Before the government instituted civil registration in Nicaragua, the Catholic Church was the only institution tracking the births, marriages, and deaths events of the population. The first civil registration law was created on January 30, 1879.

As a civil registration office was established in each city, town, and villa of the country, the mayor was assigned as the responsible party for the registration within his jurisdiction. He could name a custodian officer, who would be responsible in creating separate registers of births, marriages, deaths, and reasons for the civil status only within their jurisdiction.

In 1899, this law was changed to include other civil registration events such as: the recognition of illegitimate children, emancipation and age majority declarations, divorces, annulments, absentee declarations, and others. The registers of the Catholic Church created before this law were transferred to the municipality for control.

These civil records have been preserved relatively well. Some of the older registers may have some physical damage; however, in general they are still in good condition to extract genealogical information.

As of 3 March 2018, this collection included records from the following departments of Nicaragua:

Reading These Records
These records are written in Spanish. For help reading these records see the following guides:
 * Spanish Genealogical Word List
 * BYU Spanish Script Tutorial
 * FamilySearch Learning Center videos:
 * Reading Spanish Handwritten Records, Lesson 1
 * Reading Spanish Handwritten Records, Lesson 2

If you speak Spanish, the following free online lesson may be helpful to learn how to use the information in these records:
 * Registros Civiles y Parroquiales – Spanish

What Can These Records Tell Me?
The following information is usually found in these records:

How Do I Search This Collection?
You can search the index or view the images or both. Before using this collection it is helpful to know:
 * Your ancestor's given name and surname
 * Identifying information such as residence
 * Estimated marriage or birth year

View the Images
View images in this collection by visiting the :
 * 1) Select Department
 * 2) Select City or Municipality
 * 3) Select Parish or district
 * 4) Select Record Type and Years to view the images.

How Do I Analyze the Results?
Compare each result from your search with what you know to determine if there is a match. This may require viewing multiple records or images. Keep track of your research in a research log.

I Found the Person I Was Looking For, What Now?

 * Add any new information to your records
 * Check the image the index was taken from to see if there is additional information
 * Make sure to fully transcribe and cite the record entry for future reference; see the section Citing This Collection for assistance. Save or print a copy of the image
 * Use the parents' birth places to find former residences and to establish a migration pattern for the family
 * Compile information for every person who has the same surname as your ancestor; this is especially helpful in rural areas or if the surname is unusual
 * Continue to search the records to identify children, siblings, parents, and other relatives in the same county or nearby. 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

I Can’t Find the Person I’m Looking For, What Now?

 * Use the residence and names of the parents to locate Nicaragua, Diocese of Managua Catholic Church Records (FamilySearch Historical Records) and land records
 * Church records are also a good source of genealogical information. You should obtain copies of both church records and civil registration, when possible, since they do not necessarily provide the same information. For example, baptismal registers sometimes provide the names of the fathers of illegitimate children when the civil registration does not
 * There may be more than one person with the same name
 * Even though this is an index there may still be inaccuracies, such as altered spellings, misinterpretations, and optical character recognition errors if the information was scanned
 * A boundary change could have occurred and the record of your ancestor is now in a neighboring area. Search the records and indexes of neighboring cities, provinces, and regions
 * Your ancestor may have immigrated to another country. Search the records of nearby countries or immigration/emigration records
 * Check for variants of given names, surnames, and place names. Transcription errors could occur in any handwritten record; also, it was not uncommon for an individual be listed under a nickname or an abbreviation of their name. Click here for a list of Spanish name abbreviations
 * New information is constantly being indexed, microfilmed or updated. Periodically check back to see if your ancestor’s records have been added.  You can see if the area you’ve been looking in has been recently updated by going to Historical Records Collections.  Watch for an asterisk for recently added or updated records

Research Helps
The following articles will help you in your research for your family in Nicaragua.
 * Record Finder
 * Research Tips and Strategies

Citing This Collection
Citations help you keep track of places you have searched and sources you have found. Identifying your sources helps others find the records you used.