Haiti, Civil Registration, 1794-2018

What is in This Collection?

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.

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.

Civil registration records are a very reliable source for doing genealogical research after 1804, the year when civil registration was implemented in Haiti. These records were 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.

Reading These Records

These records are written in French. For help reading them see:

• France Languages
• French Genealogical Word List
• French Handwriting
• Brigham Young University: Script Tutorial for French

To Browse This Collection

You can browse through images in this collection using the waypoints on the Collection Browse Page for Haiti, Civil Registration, 1794-2012.

What Can These Records Tell Me?

TThe following information may be found in these records:

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

Marriage 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 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 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

Collection Content

Sample Images

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  1794 Birth Record

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  1915 Marriage Record

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  1917 Death Record