Hungary Civil Registration

Definition
Civil Registration (Állami anyakönyvek) refers to records of births, marriages, and deaths maintained by civil authorities. One of the main reasons for the introduction of Hungarian civil registration in 1895 was the conflict in the late 1800s over the baptism of children of mixed marriages.

Time Coverage
Hungarian Civil registration began on October 1, 1895 and continues to the present.

Information Content
The format varies slightly over time: prior to 1907 records were kept with a single event per page, beginning with 1907 the format is tabular with many events listed on the same page (examples of both appear below).

Births

 * name of child,
 * date of entry,
 * place and date of birth;
 * names, ages and residence of parents
 * until 1948, also the religion of parents,
 * names of witnesses.

Marriages

 * date and place of marriage
 * names, occupations, dates and places of birth and residences of groom and bride
 * names and residences of parents and witnesses
 * until 1948, also the religion.

Deaths

 * name,
 * occupation,
 * residence and age of the deceased
 * dates of death and burial
 * names of surviving spouse and parents
 * place and cause of death
 * until 1948, also the religion.

Locating Records
The originals of these registers are kept at Civil Registrars’ offices (anyakönyvi hivatal) in town halls (állami nyilvántartási hivatal). Up to 1980 the registrars’ offices sent transcripts of these volumes to the county archives, or, in the case of Budapest, to the municipal archives.


 * Some information can be obtained by correspondence or by visit if proof of relationship is given.
 * Hungary’s so-called “personality law” prohibits archives from providing access to birth registers for 90 years, marriage registers for 60 years, and death registers for 30 years.

Online Civil Registration
Civil registration records from Budapest are now available on FamilySearch website:


 * 1895-1980 - at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index and images

Research by Mail
If the records you want are not available through the FamilySearch Library, you can write to the Hungarian Embassy to request information. For instructions on how to obtain birth, marriage or death certificate from Hungary go to: Obtaining Birth, Marriage, Divorce, Death Certificates From Hungary The fee is $57.00 per certificate.

Birth Civil Registration Record Translation (pre-1907)
Hungarian birth civil registrations were recorded on pre-printed standard civil registration forms. Small variations may occur in different areas of the country. A translation of this form will help you in reading the birth civil registration record. The birth registration forms from 1895 to 1906 were one to a page/side. All of the civil registration forms were revised to a tabular format in 1907.

Marriage Civil Registration Record Translation (1898-1906)
Hungarian marriage civil registrations were recorded on pre-printed standard civil registration forms. Small variations may occur in different areas of the country. A translation of this form will help you in reading the marriage civil registration record. The pre-1907 marriage registration format was two pages: the right-hand side on one image and the left-hand side on the next image. The initial format had the mother of the bride on the second page; this was revised in 1898 to move all of the parents to the first page, with only the witnesses, remarks, and signatures on the second page. All of the forms were completely revised to a tabular format in 1907.

Death Civil Registration Record Translation (pre-1907)
Hungarian death civil registrations were recorded on pre-printed standard civil registration forms. Small variations may occur in different areas of the country. A translation of this form will help you in reading the death civil registration record. The death registration forms from 1895 to 1906 were one to a page/side. All of the civil registration forms were revised to a tabular format in 1907.

Post-1907 Civil Registration Records (tabular format)
There were variations in the preprinted register-books over time, but the changes were minor until the 1953 revision, which completely re-arranged the locations of fields, did away with the religion, and added fields for things like the deceased's birth and marriage.