Brazil, Port of Rio de Janeiro, Passenger and Immigrant Lists - FamilySearch Historical Records

Brazil Rio de Janeiro

What is in the Collection?
This collection consists of passenger lists of ships carrying immigrants to Brazil via the port of Rio de Janeiro during the years 1874-1976.

What Can This Collection Tell Me?
The following list indicates potential information provided in these records. It must be remembered that every record may not provide all the listed information, as record-keeping practices varied greatly over time.

Passenger Lists may include:
 * Name
 * Age
 * Origin
 * Nationality
 * Marital status
 * Occupation
 * Family members
 * Name of ship
 * Date and place of departure
 * Date and place of arrival to Brazil

How Do I Search the Collection?
Before beginning a search in these records, it is best to know the full name of the individual in question, as well as an approximate time range for the desired record. When entered into the search engine on the Collection Page, this information provides the quickest, most reliable path to finding the correct person. Of course, other information can be substituted as necessary.

Search by Name by Visiting the Collection Page
Fill in the requested information in the initial search page to return a list of possible matches. Compare the individuals on the list with what is already known to find the correct family or person. This step may require examining multiple individuals before a match is located.

For Help Reading These Records
These records are in Portuguese. For help reading the records, see the following wiki articles:
 * Portuguese Genealogical Word List
 * Brazil Language and Languages

What Do I Do Next?
You can use passenger lists to learn an immigrant’s place of origin, confirm their date of arrival, learn foreign names and their Portuguese translations, and find records in his or her country of origin such as emigrations, port records, or ship’s manifests.

If just the country is given, use the last name to search for your ancestor and his/her family in his/her home country; this is called a surname search and helps to pinpoint what cities/provinces/states were the hometowns of families.

Also, use the last name to search for any possible relatives that may have traveled after or before your ancestor.

Tips to Keep in Mind
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.

The information was supplied by the immigrant and his identification documents. Incorrect information was occasionally given, or mistakes may have been made when the immigration officer guessed at the spelling of foreign names.

These type-written records may have been transcribed from hand-written lists. So errors may be found in the spellings of names.

When looking for a person who had a common name, look at all the entries for the name before deciding which is correct.

Remember that your ancestor's name may be spelled according to the new country's native language or the language of your ancestor's home country.

Clerks may have written/spelled the name of your ancestor as they heard it, not as it is spelled in your ancestor's native language. Learn about pronunciation of your ancestor's native language.

The port your ancestor departed from may not be his/her hometown.

I Can't Find Who I'm Looking For, Now What?
If you think your ancestor may have immigrated to Brazil and you cannot find him/her in this collection, then check the records of other ports in Brazil. Information on these other ports can be found here, Brazil Emigration and Immigration.

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.

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